This is a lovely shurb that is native to the sandy soils of the Sydney area of NSW. Both parts of the binomial name for the plant come from Latin words. Epacris comes from epi-meaning upon and akros meaning the top, longiflora means long flowered.

Fuchsia heath grows naturally in nutrient poor, free draining, but moist, sandy soil that is derived from Hawkesbury sandstone. It’s native habitat is eucalypt forest or woodland, wet heathland and moist cliff vegetation provided it is sheltered with dappled shade, up to an elevation of 750 metres. Annual rainfall is between 1000-1600mm. The range is from Queensland in the north, down to Berry in NSW. Within the NSW, it appears in the North and Central Coast and the Northern and Central Tableland regions of the state.

The plant features are as follows:

• Leaves-small and spreading, between 5-17mm long, 3-6mm wide, tough, sharply pointed apex, cordate (heart-shaped), the leaf margin is slightly toothed and the lamina is thin, flat and can be scabrous (rough) on the upper leaf.
• Flowers-pendulous and tubular, red with white lobes (can be all white), peduncle (flower stalk) to 2mm long, axillary, pendulous with the flowers hanging in racemes. Mostly appear in March to November, but can flower all year.
• Fruit and seed-the fruit is a capsule that’s 3-4mm long, seeds are less than a mm in size.
• Response to fire-this is one Australian native plant that doesn’t survive fire. Seeds within the soil seed bank will grow after burns of low intensity and high intensity fire.
• Description-a slender, upright

Within a garden setting, ensure that fuchsia heath is planted in a well-drained, moist, sandy soil that is located under dappled shade. It also makes a good container plant. As the plant is sensitive to frost and full sun, ensure you protect it from both. It also doesn’t tolerate drying out, so ensure it is well-watered and apply a layer of mulch to prevent the soil drying out. Ensure that the area around the base of the plant is always weeded, as the added humidity will likely kill it. On the plus side, this plant can be pruned, resulting in a tidier plant. This plant is available at garden nurseries in Sydney.

References

• Https ://www.anagram.gov.au/gnp/trainees-2018/Epacris-longiflora.html, accessed 19/08/2022
• Https://plant net.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/nswfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=epiacris~longiflora, accessed 13/08/2022
• Fairley, A., Moore, P., 2010, Native Plants of the Sydney Region, Third Edition, Jacana Books, Crows Nest, NSW, Australia
• Robinson, L., 2003, Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, Third Edition, Simon & Schuster (Australia)Pty Ltd, Cammeray, NSW, Australia
• All photos are my own