View source for Woollsia

{{Short description|Genus of shrubs}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Wildflower Woodford Blue Mountains.jpg
| image_caption = In [[Blue Mountains National Park]]
| display_parents = 3
| genus = Woollsia
| parent_authority = [[F.Muell.]]<ref name="APC1">{{cite web |title=''Woolsia'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/106885 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref>
| species = pungens
| authority = ([[Antonio José Cavanilles|Cav.]]) [[Ferdinand von Mueller|F.Muell.]]<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Woolsia pungens'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/106880 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref>
}}
'''''Woollsia pungens''''', commonly known as '''snow heath''',<ref name="anpsa">{{cite web |title=''Woollsia pungens'' |url=https://anpsa.org.au/plant_profiles/woollsia-pungens/ |publisher=Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref> is the sole species in the flowering plant genus '''''Woollsia''''' in the family [[Ericaceae]] and is [[endemic]] to eastern Australia. It is a small shrub with egg-shaped leaves with a heart-shaped base, white to dark pink, tube-shaped flowers and small [[Capsule (fruit)|capsules]] containing many small seeds.
==Description==
''Woollsia pungens'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|0.2–2|m}} and has hairy stems. The leaves are egg-shaped, {{cvt|3.5–12|mm}} long and {{cvt|1.5–6|mm}} wide on a [[Petiole (botany)|petiole]] up to {{cvt|1|mm}} long, and have a rounded to heart-shaped base and a sharp point on the end.
The flowers are white to dark pink, {{cvt|8–13|mm}} in diameter and sweetly-scented. There are hairy [[bract]]s and [[sepal]]s {{cvt|8–10|mm}} long. The petals are joined at the base, forming a tube {{cvt|7–14|mm}} long with spreading lobes {{cvt|4–5|mm}} long. Flowering occurs in most months, and the fruit is a capsule about {{cvt|2.5|mm}} in diameter, containing many small seeds.<ref name="RBGS">{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=Jocelyn M. |title=''Woollsia pungens'' |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Woollsia~pungens |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref><ref name="Benson">{{cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=Doug |last2=McDougall |first2=Lyn |title=Ecology of Sydney plant species Part 3: Dicotyledon families Cabombaceae to Eupomatiaceae |journal=Cunninghamia |date=1995 |volume=4 |issue=2 |page=390 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58705007#page/252/mode/1up |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref>
==Taxonomy==
[[Antonio José Cavanilles]] described the species as ''Epacris pungens'' in 1797, from material collected in the Sydney district.<ref name="Cav.">{{cite book |last1=Cavanilles |first1=Antonio J. |title=Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum |date=1797 |publisher=Ex Regia Typographia |location=Madrid |pages=26–27 |url=https://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/viewer/9682/?offset=#page=30&viewer=picture&o=bookmark&n=0&q= |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref> Victorian state botanist [[Ferdinand von Mueller]] proposed the new genus ''Woollsia'' in 1873 in his ''[[Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae]]'',<ref name="F.Muell.1">{{cite book |last1=von Mueller |first1=Ferdinand |title=Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae |date=1873 |volume=v.8 1872-74 |publisher=Victorian Government Printer |location=Melbourne |page=55 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/765085#page/56/mode/1up |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref> though did not publish its new binomial name (''Woollsia pungens'') until 1875.<ref name="APNI">{{cite web |title=''Woollsia pungens'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/537054 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref><ref name="F.Muell.">{{cite book |last1=von Mueller |first1=Ferdinand |title=Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae |date=1875 |volume=v.9 1875 |publisher=Victorian Government Printer |location=Melbourne |page=48 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/7226#page/49/mode/1up |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref> The genus name (''Woollsia'') honours [[William Woolls]]<ref name="anpsa" /> and the [[Binomial nomenclature|specific epithet]] (''pungens'') means "ending in a sharp, hard point".<ref name="ASG">{{cite book |last1=George |first1=Alex |last2=Sharr |first2=Francis |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2021 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=287 |edition=4th}}</ref>
Genetic analysis indicates that this species is an early offshoot of a lineage that includes ''[[Lysinema ciliatum]]'' and the genus ''[[Epacris]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1071/SB13009|title = A reappraisal of the generic concepts of ''Epacris'', ''Rupicola'' and ''Budawangia'' (Ericaceae, Epacridoideae, Epacrideae) based on phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular data|journal = Australian Systematic Botany|volume = 28|pages = 63|year = 2015|last1 = Quinn|first1 = Christopher J.|last2 = Crowden|first2 = Ronald K.|last3 = Brown|first3 = Elizabeth A.|last4 = Southam|first4 = Michael J.|last5 = Thornhill|first5 = Andrew H.|last6 = Crayn|first6 = Darren M.|s2cid = 85849925}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.09.011|pmid = 21967784|title = Supermatrices, supertrees and serendipitous scaffolding: Inferring a well-resolved, genus-level phylogeny of Styphelioideae (Ericaceae) despite missing data|journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume = 62|issue = 1|pages = 146–158|year = 2012|last1 = Johnson|first1 = Karen A.|last2 = Holland|first2 = Barbara R.|last3 = Heslewood|first3 = Margaret M.|last4 = Crayn|first4 = Darren M.| bibcode=2012MolPE..62..146J }}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat==
''Woollsia pungens'' grows in heathland with such species as saw banksia (''[[Banksia serrata]]''), mountain devil (''[[Lambertia formosa]]''), grasstree (''[[Xanthorrhoea resinifera]]''), and open sclerophyll forest under such trees as  Sydney peppermint (''[[Eucalyptus piperita]]''), scribbly gum (''[[Eucalyptus haemastoma|E. haemastoma]]'') and red bloodwood (''[[Corymbia gummifera]]'').<ref name=Benson/> It grows along the coast and in the upper [[Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains]] from [[Pigeon House Mountain]] in southern New South Wales to south-east Queensland.<ref name="RBGS" /><ref name="Benson" />
==Ecology==
Plants are thought to live 10–20 years in the wild. They are generally killed by bushfire, with new seedlings growing from seed stored in the soil.<ref name=Benson />
==Use in horticulture==
In cultivation, snow heath grows best in a part-shaded spot with good drainage and ample moisture. It can be propagated by cuttings or seed.<ref name="anpsa" />
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q18193544|from2=Q93758}}
[[Category:Epacridoideae]]
[[Category:Ericales of Australia]]
[[Category:Flora of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Flora of Queensland]]
[[Category:Monotypic Ericaceae genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1797]]