Epacris celata

Epacris celata is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a spreading to erect shrub with flat, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and tube-shaped white flowers clustered in upper leaf axils.

Description

Epacris celata is a spreading to erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has reddish-brown young stems. Its leaves are more or less flat, elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base long and wide on a petiole up to long. The flowers are clustered in a few leaf axils near the ends of branches, each on a peduncle long. The five sepals are long and the petals are joined to form a white tube, long, the lobes long. The five stamens and the style are enclosed in the petal tube.

Taxonomy and naming

Epacris celata was first formally described in 1995 by R.K.Crowden in the journal, Muelleria from specimens collected on the Bogong High Plains in 1993. The specific epithet means "concealed", because the plant is hidden with other species and is only noticed when flowering.

Distribution and habitat

This epacris grows in alpine heath in wet places or near streams on higher mountains of the Bogong High Plains in Victoria and near Mount Kosciuszko and in Wadbilliga National Park in New South Wales.