About Epacris gunnii Hook.fil.
Epacris gunnii Hook.fil. is a shrub that produces a small number of slender, erect branches, and typically grows up to around 1 metre (3 feet 3 inches) in height. Its branches are covered in soft hairs. The leaves are hairless, concave, broadly egg-shaped, 2.0–6.5 mm (0.079–0.256 in) long, 1.8–5.5 mm (0.071–0.217 in) wide, sharply pointed, and spaced evenly along the branches. The flowers are arranged in the leaf axils along 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in) sections of the branches. Each flower grows from a pedicel about 1 mm (0.039 in) long, with up to 21 bracts at the base of the flower. The sepals are egg-shaped and 2.2–3.0 mm (0.087–0.118 in) long. The petal tube is 1.2–2.0 mm (0.047–0.079 in) long, with lobes 1.7–2.7 mm (0.067–0.106 in) long. The anthers are slightly longer than the petal tube. Flowering timing varies by region: it occurs from April to October in New South Wales, from September to December in Tasmania, and can happen in any month in Victoria, though it takes place from October to February at higher elevations there. The fruit is a capsule 1.4–1.8 mm (0.055–0.071 in) in diameter. This species grows in forest, heath, and grassland, and sometimes grows along stream banks. It occurs on the coast and tablelands of eastern New South Wales, and mostly in higher-elevation areas of eastern Victoria and Tasmania. In New South Wales, it grows on peaty soils in association with Leptospermum glaucescens, Sprengelia incarnata, and Ranunculus species.
