Epacris sinclairii
Common name
Sinclair’s tamingi
Synonyms
Epacris pauciflora var. sinclairii (Hook.f.) Cheeseman
Family
Ericaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Chromosome number
2n = 26
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RC
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered
Brief description
Bushy woody shrub with small hard leaves 7-15mm long by 2-5mm wide inhabiting upland Coromandel and Great Barrier Island. Leaves distinctly widest at middle, with three darker green lines on underside, with a small pale knob at tip. Flowers white, solitary in the base of leaves but many per twig.
Distribution
Endemic. North Island. Great Barrier Island where it is confined to the Central Mount Hobson Massif, and the Coromandel Peninsula, where it is only known from the Upper Kauaeranga Valley.
Habitat
A rhyolite endemic, preferring cloud Forest (where it can be epiphytic) and associated rock tors. On Great Barrier Island, due to past forest logging and associated land clearance plants have also colonised gumland scrub and other open, improverished clay pans.
Features
Stout, erect, bushy, usually spreading shrub or small tree 1-8 x 1-3 m. Basal trunk stout, up to 100 mm dbh; bark grey-brown, flaking in long strips. Branches numerous, very leafy, virgate, spreading, minutely hairy when young, becoming glabrescent. Leaves ascending, patent to sub patent, close-set, firmly coriaceous, 7-15(-20) x 2-5(-8) mm, broadly lanceolate to ovate, rhomboidal-ovate to oblong-ovate; apex obtuse, often terminating in a distinctive cream-coloured or pale-green knob (never acuminate or mucronate); veins obscure on upper side, distinct on underside, bright green to bronze-green above, paler beneath. Flowers axillary, solitary, often aggregated toward branchlet tips. Peduncles 2-2.5 mm long. Corolla 5-8 mm diameter, white, lobes 5, spreading, broad-oblong, obtuse. Stamens 5, filaments, inserted on corolla tube, anthers red-brown to black, scarcely exserted. Capsules 1.5-2.5 mm long, subglobose, 5-lobed.
Similar taxa
Rather similar to Epacris pauciflora A.Rich. (swamp tamingi) which differs mainly by its strongly erect, nevre spreading, sparingly branched “pitch fork” growth form, smaller over all stature (rarely exceeding 2 m in height), and smaller, dark green to red-green rhomboidal, acuminate to mucronate leaves. There are no major floral, fruit or seed differences. E. pauciflora is a species of gumland scrub and peat bogs, which does not grow in forest or on rhyolite rock outcrops. On Great Barrier Island and in the upper Kauaerange Valley both species are locally sympatric.
Flowering
Mainly April - though occasional flowers may be seen in September-October
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Fruiting
Mainly May-July
Life cycle
Minute seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.
Threats
Threatened by the heavily reduced habitat the species now occupies. In the few locations where it is known it is regenerating freely.
Etymology
epacris: From the Greek epi ‘upon’ and akros ‘the top’, referring these plants’ habitat being on high ground
sinclairii: After Sinclair (c. 1796–1861). Colonial Secretary and naturalist.
Taxanomic notes
Epacris sinclairii is ecological and morpholgoical distinct from E. pauciflora with which it is broadly sympatric on Great Barrier Island, andin the upper Kauaerange Valley. Limited nrDNA ITS sequence data (unpublished, University of Auckland) indicate only a minimal difference between E. sinclairii and E. pauciflora (a single base pair change).
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 15 octyober 2005. Description by P.J. de Lange.
References and further reading
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Epacris sinclairii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/epacris-sinclairii/ (Date website was queried)