Plants of
South Australia
Acrotriche cordata
Ericaceae
Coast Ground-berry,
Blunt-leaf Ground-berry
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
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Wudinna
Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 8

Prior names

Acrotriche subcordata, nom.illeg.

Styphelia ovalifolia

Acrotriche ovalifolia

Styphelia cordata

Common names

Coast Ground-berry

Blunt-leaf Ground-berry

Etymology

Acrotriche from the Greek 'akron' meaning summit and 'thrix' meaning hair, alluding to the tuft of hairs at the tip of the corolla lobes. Cordata from the Latin 'cordatus' meaning heart-shaped, referring to the shape of the leaves.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, from the Eyre Peninsula to the South-east growing in coastal shrublands, mallee scrub and heath on sandy soils and limestone. Also found in Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Common in South Australia. Rare in Victoria and Tasmania. Common in Western Australia.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern
NRM regions: Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect shrub to 100 cm high and 120 cm across. Young branches red-brown, with older stems grey or grey-brown. Leaves glabrous, thick, rigid, usually flat to 12 mm long and 5 mm wide with 3 parallel central veins. Flowers small, pale-green along a 5-8 mm long spikes. Flowering between July and September. Fruits are fleshy, green, smooth spherical to depressed-globular fruit. Seeds are slightly compressed, pale cream, woody, globular to 3 mm with and 2 mm high. Seed embryo type is linear underdeveloped.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. Collect berries that are ripe with soft flesh and a hard seed inside. Place the berries in a bucket of water and rub the flesh off with your hands. Drain the water and wash again if required to remove all the flesh. Then spread the wet seeds on some paper towel and leave to dry. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seed viability can be medium to high. This species is generally difficult to germinate, it has morphophysiological dormancy and complex germination requirements.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA466 (6.21 g)50+25-Nov-2004DJD47
Southern Lofty
1-Sep-200590%-18°C
BGA 
MSB
1,300 (11.6 g)
1,300 (11.6 g)
20+20-Nov-2005DJD691
Murray
1-Aug-200765%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.