Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Leptospermum arachnoides

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