Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Leptospermum polygalifolium
Common name
Yellow tea-tree, Tantoon
Family
Myrtaceae
Where found
Forest, woodland, heath, and along streams.
susbp. cismontanum Mainly coastal, north of Marulan.
subsp. polygalifolium Coast and ranges, occasionally elsewhere.
Notes
Shrub or tree. Bark rough. Stems hairy to hairless. Leaves aromatic when rubbed, alternating up the stems, 0.8-2 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, flat or with curved down margins, surfaces usually hairless or almost so, tips broad to narrow and pointed or blunt, often curved down with a soft or stiff blunt point, bases tapering; stalk more or less absent. Flowers about 10-12 mm in diameter, with 5 greenish to creamy white petals. Nuts 5–10 mm in diameter.
susbp. cismontanum Shrub to 4 m tall. Leaves usually 0.8–1 cm long (longer in the form near streams) and 2 mm wide, usually a characteristic dull grey-green, the lower side paler, tips usually rounded. Flowers about 10 mm in diameter, white. Sepals 1.5–2 mm long. Nut usually 5–7 mm in diameter. Main flowering period September-October.
subsp. polygalifolium Shrub or tree to 5 m tall. Leaves with a soft, occasonally sharp point. Leaves usually 1–2 cm long, 2–3 mm wide, green, lower surface often much paler. Flowers 10-15 mm in diameter, greenish or creamy white. Sepals 2–2.5 mm long. Nut 6–10 mm in diameter. Main flowering period November-December.
PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Leptospermum~polygalifolium (accessed 22 January, 2021)
Additional information in: Thompson, J. (8 December 1989), A revision of the genus Leptospermum (Myrtaceae). Telopea 3(3): 396-402, map 7-45
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