Greek astron—star, loma—fringe; referring to the tufts of hair inside the floral tube.

Low, compact shrubs. Branchlets rough to hairy. Leaves mostly linear to lanceolate, lower surface pale below and sharply pointed. Flowers axillary, 1-3 on short stalks. Floral tube cylindrical with 5 tufts of hair on scales below the middle inside or rarely almost hairless. Flower lobes arranged edge-to-edge in bud and mostly with hair inside. Stamens usually with broad, flat filaments attached in the throat. Ovary with 5 chambers, 1 ovule in each. Fruit a drupe.

Cuttings, mostly of young wood.

Berries as a food source to Aboriginals and early settlers.

Crowded, narrow long-pointed leaves. Flower lobes edge-to-edge in bud; floral tube with 5 hairy scales below the middle; stamen filaments broad and flat; anthers more or less enclosed within flower tube.

18 species endemic to Australia.

Source: Spencer, R. (1997). Epacridaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.