Common Heath is a slender, upright shrub which grows to about a metre in height. The rigid, alternate leaves are stalkless and fairly narrow. They range from 4 to 16 mm in length and are sharply pointed. The tubular flowers up to 25 mm long are arranged singly in the leaf axils and are often so densely packed around the stem that the cluster of flowers assumes a cylindrical brushlike appearance. On other specimens flowers may be sparse and arranged on only one side of the stem. Flowering occurs from late autumn to late spring, reaching a peak in winter. The fruit is a capsule which splits to release minute seeds. Common Heath has many colour forms including pure white, pale pink, rose pink, crimson, scarlet and rare double flowered forms, but the pink form is the one chosen and proclaimed as Victoria's floral emblem. The Grampians Heath, Epacris impressa var. grandiflora, which has wider rosy-crimson flowers and coarser downy greyish foliage, is confined to the Grampian Mountains of western Victoria.
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