Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ericales Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ericaceae
Genus
Epacris Cav.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Epacris alpina Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part II, 166 (1854)
Synonymy:
  • = Epacris affinis Colenso, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 20: 199 (1887 [1888])
Vernacular Name(s):
Nehenehe
 Description

Erect or spreading slender shrub up to ± 1 m tall, often decumbent at base; branches slender; branchlets puberulent towards tips. Lvs ascending at first, becoming ± patent, close-set, 3–5 × 1.5–2 mm, coriaceous, glabrous, on very short subappressed petioles widening to base. Lamina concave above, obtusely keeled on back, ovate-oblong to elliptic; veins obscure; apex obtuse to subacute. Fls solitary, axillary, on short peduncles towards tip of branchlets. Bracts usually 6–10, broad-ovate, ± imbricate. Calyx lobes obtuse, ciliolate, 2–3 mm long. Corolla white, 2.5–4 mm diam.; lobes spreading, ovate-triangular, obtuse, < tube. Capsule ± 1.5 mm long, subglobose.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Dec.–Jan.

 Bibliography
Colenso, W. 1888: On new Phænogamic plants of New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 20: 188–211.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Hooker, J.D. 1854–1855: The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror, in the years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part II. Flowerless plants. Lovell Reeve, London.