Editing Epacris impressa (section)

==Cultivation==
[[File:Epacris impressa - Paxton.jpg|thumb|An illustration from ''Paxton's Magazine of Botany'', published in 1836<ref name="Paxton 1836"/>]]
Propagated from seed collected by [[William Baxter (botanist)|William Baxter]] in southern Australia, common heath was introduced into cultivation in England by the [[Clapton Nursery]] in 1825.<ref name="Paxton 1836">{{cite book|author= Joseph Paxton|title=Paxton's Magazine of Botany, and Register of Flowering Plants|volume=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6C8FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA97|year=1836|publisher=Orr and Smith|page=97}}</ref> Due to its frost-tenderness, it was mostly restricted to [[greenhouse]] cultivation.<ref name=ANBG/> In 1873, a variety known as ''Epacris impressa alba'' was recorded as being grown commercially for [[cut flowers]] in Boston in the United States.<ref name=Harding>{{cite journal|author=Harding, W.T. |title=Observations and Recollections of New Holland|journal=The Gardener's Monthly and Horticultural Advertiser|volume=15|year=1873|pages=173–175|publisher=Charles Marot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SwCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA173}}</ref> While initially popular – over seventy cultivars appeared in the literature at the time – most have since disappeared.<ref name=EJ84>{{cite book |author1=Elliot Rodger W. |author2=Jones, David L. |author3=Blake, Trevor |title=Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation:Volume 3 – Ce-Er|year=1984|pages=412–20|publisher=Lothian Press |location=Port Melbourne |isbn=0-85091-167-2}}</ref>

Plants grow best in a moist but well-drained, acidic soil,<ref Name=ANBG/> with added [[peat]] being helpful.<ref name="Marriott88">{{cite journal|last=Marriott|first=Neil|date=1988|title=Epacris impressa|journal=Australian Plants|volume=14|issue=115|page=293}}</ref> They may be grown in coastal gardens in a sheltered position,<ref name=Greig>{{cite book|author=Greig, Denise | title=The Australian Gardener's Wildflower Catalogue| page=152 | publisher=Angus & Robertson|location= Australia | year=1987 | isbn=0-207-15460-0}}</ref> and generally require some degree of shade. Once established, plants can tolerate short dry spells.<ref name=EJ84/> As they age, plants may become straggly, but benefit from hard [[pruning]] after fertilizing and watering, which promotes compact, bushier growth. Common heath can be short-lived and difficult to [[transplanting|transplant]],<ref name="Marriott88"/><!-- cites previous two sentences --> though it can be readily grown as a pot plant.<ref name=EJ84/> Along with other members of the genus, ''Epacris impressa'' initially proved difficult to grow and maintain on original soil in the [[Australian National Botanic Gardens]] in Canberra.<ref name="Butler84">{{cite journal|last=Butler|first=Geoff|date=1984|title=National Botanic Gardens Rockery|journal=Australian Plants|volume=12|issue=99 |pages=315–19}}</ref>

[[Plant propagation|Propagation]] both by seed and cuttings is difficult, reducing potential production by plant nurseries. Germination rates of [[soil seed bank|soil-stored seeds]] have been found to increase substantially with the application of heat and aqueous solutions of smoke.<ref name="Enright 2001">{{Cite journal | last1= Enright | first1= Neal J. | last2= Kintrup | first2= A. | title= Effects of smoke, heat and charred wood on the germination of dormant soil-stored seeds from a ''Eucalyptus baxteri'' heathy-woodland in Victoria, SE Australia | journal= Austral Ecology | year= 2001 | volume= 26 | issue= 2 | pages= 132–41 | doi= 10.1046/j.1442-9993.2001.01096.x }}</ref> The most satisfactory results from cuttings can be achieved by using tip growth, taken six weeks after the cessation of flowering, and kept under a fogging system for twenty weeks.<ref name=Conomikes/> Plantsman Neil Marriott recommends semi-hardened cutting material taken in spring and autumn.<ref name="Marriott88"/> Roots of cuttings are brittle and easily damaged.<ref name="Marriott88"/>

===Cultivars===
The following forms have been selected and grown for cultivation:

;'Bega'
This is a form from [[Bega, New South Wales|Bega]] in southern New South Wales that has bright red flowers and grows to {{convert|60|cm|ft|abbr=on}} high. It is regarded as one of the more reliable forms in cultivation.<ref name=ANPSA/><ref name=austraflora/> White- and pink-flowered forms from the same region also have horticultural potential.<ref name="walters88">{{cite journal|last=Walters|first=Brian|date=1988|title=East Coastal #7: Epacris|journal=Australian Plants|volume=14|issue=115|page=294}}</ref>

; 'Cranbourne Bells' and other double-flowered forms
[[File:Epacris impressa double pink 8525.jpg|Double-flowered pink form|thumb|left]]
'Cranbourne Bells' is a [[double-flowered]] form with pink flower buds fading to white as they open.<ref Name=ACRA1>{{cite web|title=''Epacris'' 'Cranbourne Bells'|work=Descriptions of Registered Cultivars|publisher=Australian Cultivar Registration Authority|url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/acra/descriptions/acc384.html|access-date=22 April 2010}}</ref> Registered by the [[Australian Cultivar Registration Authority]] in 1988, it occurred naturally near the [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne|Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne]] in Victoria, but its habitat has since been cleared.<ref Name=ACRA1/><ref name=SGAP>{{cite book| title=Flora of Melbourne|publisher= Society for Growing Australian Plants Maroondah, Inc. | year=1991 |location=Ringwood, Victoria|page=90| isbn=0-909830-42-8 }}</ref> A double-flowered form of ''Epacris impressa'' was collected as early as the 1860s in Victoria when Government Botanist [[Ferdinand von Mueller]] sent a specimen to [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|Kew Gardens]]. This was examined by botanist [[William Hemsley (botanist)|William Hemsley]] in 1865. The specimen, labelled as ''Epacris impressa'' var. ''pleniflora'', originated from [[Stawell, Victoria|Stawell]] in western Victoria.<ref name="B&F 1865B">{{cite journal|author=Masters, Maxwell T.|title=''Epacris impressa flore pleno''|journal=Journal of Botany, British and Foreign|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sT8-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA193|volume=3|year=1865|publisher=Harwicke|page=193}}</ref><ref name="B&F 1865A">{{cite journal|author=Seeman, Berthold|title=''Epacris impressa'' Labill. fl. pleno|journal=Journal of Botany, British and Foreign|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sT8-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA157|volume=3|year=1865|publisher=Harwicke|page=157}}</ref><ref name="B&F 1917">{{cite journal|author=Hemsley, William|title=Double-flowered Epacrises|journal=Journal of Botany, British and Foreign|volume=55|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/36197#page/177/mode/1up|year=1917|publisher=Harwicke|page=161}}</ref> Another specimen given the same name by Mueller was collected at [[Nunawading]], today a suburb of Melbourne.<ref name=Mueller>{{cite journal|author=Mueller, Ferdinand|title=Epacridaceae|journal=Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae|volume=8|year=1872–74|pages=51–56|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/7225#page/52/mode/1up}}</ref> [[Charles French (entomologist)|Charles French]], co-founder of the [[Field Naturalists Club of Victoria]], collected a white double-flowered form from [[Cheltenham, Victoria|Cheltenham]] south of Melbourne in 1859 and a pink double-flowered form from [[Dromana, Victoria|Dromana]] on the Mornington Peninsula in about 1862. These were later sent as rooted cuttings to [[Veitch Nurseries]] in England.<ref name=French>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5938559 |author=French, Charles|title=Double Wild Flowers |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=24 September 1877 |access-date=8 June 2014 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Double-flowered forms of various colours have since been found throughout Victoria, but only single plants have been observed in any location, and they are still regarded as a rarity.<ref name="Clifford 1949">{{cite journal|author=Clifford, H.T.|title=Notes on the Common Heath (''Epacris impressa'')|journal=The Victorian Naturalist|date=December 1949|volume=66|issue=9|pages=143–46|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ia/VictorianNatura66Fiel#page/152/mode/1up}}</ref> A naturally occurring form of the variety ''grandiflora'' with rosebud-like double flowers is also grown.<ref name=EJ84/><ref name=austraflora>{{cite book|author1=Molyneux, Bill |author2=Forrester, Sue |title=The Austraflora Handbook: a Guide to Selecting and Growing Australian Plants|year=1984|page=26|publisher=Austraflora Nurseries|location=Montrose, Victoria|isbn=0-9590474-0-9}}</ref>

;'Spring Pink'
A form with deep pink flowers on long spikes, 'Spring Pink' appears in spring. It grows to {{convert|60|cm|ft|abbr=on}} high.<ref name=austraflora/>