Sprengelia sprengelioides

Sprengelia sprengelioides is an erect, glabrous shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.3–1 m (1 ft 0 in – 3 ft 3 in) and has wiry stems. The leaves are egg-shaped, 4–12 mm (0.16–0.47 in) long and 1.5–3.2 mm (0.059–0.126 in) wide with a small point on the end and minute teeth on the edges. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils, with egg-shaped bracts 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long at the base. The sepals are broad, green, egg-shaped, and 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in) long. The petals white, joined at the base to form a tube 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long with lobes 6 mm (0.24 in) long. Flowering occurs from June to September and the fruit is a capsule about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) in diameter.[2][3][4]

This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Ponceletia sprengelioides in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.[5][6] In 1917, George Claridge Druce changed the name to Sprengelia sprengelioides in the supplement to The Botanical Exchange Club and Society of the British Isles Report for 1916.[7] The specific epithet (sprengelioides) means "Sprengelia-like". (This species was originally in the genus Ponceletia.)[3]

Sprengelia sprengelioides grows swampy heath, sometimes with Banksia robur or species of Xyris. It occurs in near-coastal areas of south-eastern Queensland, and south to the Sydney region of New South Wales.[2][8]