Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Leptospermum arachnoides

Flowering branch. Photographer Don Wood, Touga Road, Morton National Park

Young nut and leaves. Photographer John Tann, Heathcote National Park near Sydney

Nuts and leaves. Photographer John Tann, Royal National Park, Sydney

Common name

Spidery tea-tree

Family

Myrtaceae

Where found

Forest and moist heath. Coast, ranges, and tablelands, north of Bega.

Notes

Shrub to 3 m tall. Leaves with sharp points. Bark rough, peeling in flaky layers. Younger stems hairy. Leaves aromatic when rubbed, alternating up the stems, usually 1-2 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, thick, curved upwards in cross section with a tendency to twist spirally, hairless at least in part; tips tapering, bases tapering and usually expanded to a very short broad stalk. Flowers about 10 mm in diameter, with 5 white petals, single. Flowers Spring to Summer. Nuts often long-persistent, about 5-8 mm in diameter or more, surface hairy, lifting and ultimately flaking.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Leptospermum~arachnoides (accessed 22 January, 2021)

Additional information in: Thompson, J. (8 December 1989), A revision of the genus Leptospermum (Myrtaceae). Telopea 3(3): 428-429, map 9-68