page_title: Epacris impressa
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Epacris impressa / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris), Female on Common Heath (Epacris impressa), Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Tasmania, Australia
context_page_description: Epacris impressa, also known as common heath, is a plant of the heath family, Ericaceae, that is native to southeast Australia. French botanist Jacques Labillardière collected the species in 1793 and described it in 1805. Four forms have been identified, but no subspecies are recognised. Growing in heathland, shrubland or open forest, it is generally a small shrub around 0.5 to 1 m tall, with small stiff leaves. The red, pink or white tube-like flowers appear from late autumn to early spring. Honeyeater birds, particularly the eastern spinebill, feed upon the nectar of the flowers. It regenerates after bushfire by seed or by resprouting.
  A highly regarded garden plant, the common heath was first cultivated in England in 1825; over seventy named cultivars have been developed, most of which have now vanished. A pink-flowered form, often referred to as "pink heath", is the floral emblem of the state of Victoria. Epacris impressa has proven a difficult plant to propagate reliably, which has limited its use in horticulture and revegetation. It grows best in well-drained but moist soil in a semishaded position.
context_section_description: Honeyeaters such as the eastern spinebill are attracted to the flowers. As the bird gathers the nectar, the pollen, which has fins, attaches itself to the feathers on the heads of the birds and is carried to other flowers, aiding cross pollination. A study in forests near Hobart in Tasmania found that the eastern spinebill arrived in the area at the same time the common heath was in flower in March, and left once flowering had finished. Other honeyeaters, such as the strong-billed, crescent and yellow-throated honeyeaters, fed occasionally at common heath flowers. Field work in the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia recorded the white-plumed and New Holland honeyeaters, as well as the crescent honeyeater and the eastern spinebill.
  Insects recorded visiting white-flowered plants include the Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) and yellow admiral (V. itea), as well as bees. Field work in southern Tasmania showed that the introduced bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) sometimes robbed nectar by piercing the base of the tube. This then allowed honeybees (Apis mellifera) to retrieve nectar the same way. Epacris impressa is host to the scale insect Lecanodiaspis microcribraria.
  A field study of the invasion of the pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi into the Brisbane Ranges National Park in Victoria in 1971 indicated that Epacris impressa was moderately susceptible to the pathogen. Inoculation of seedlings confirmed this. Fieldwork in the Brisbane Ranges National Park in 1985 showed that there was some evidence that E. impressa seedlings were able to recolonise areas that had been infested with P. cinnamomi a decade before.
  Epacris impressa regenerates after bushfire by seed and resprouting. Fieldwork in heathland in the Otway Ranges in the years following the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires showed that large numbers of E. impressa seedlings appeared in some areas, and that flowering took place as early as the second year after the fire.
  The roots of Epacris impressa are colonized by fungi forming ericoid mycorrhiza. It is believed that the fungal species vary between regions.
caption: Eastern spinebill on Epacris impressa,  Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
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