Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Leptospermum squarrosum

Flower and flower buds. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Flowering branches and nuts. Photographer Don Wood, Dr George Mountain Rd, Mimosa Rocks National Park near Bega

Trunk. Photographer John Tann, near Wollongong

Common name

Pink tea-tree

Family

Myrtaceae

Where found

Shrubland and heath. Widespread, mainly north of Ulladulla.

Notes

Shrub to 4 m tall. Leaves with sharp tips. Bark rough. Stems hairy to hairless, with a conspicuous flange. Leaves aromatic when rubbed, alternating up the stems, 0.5-1.5 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, surfaces becoming hairless, margins curved upwards; tips channelled or cylindrical, bases tapering to a short, broad, sometimes negligible, stalk. Flowers mostly 10-20 mm in diameter, with 5 white or pink petals. Flowers are produced on short shoots on older branches. Flowers sporadically, often in March. Nuts long persistent, about 8-12 mm in diameter.

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

Additional information in: Thompson, J. (8 December 1989), A revision of the genus Leptospermum (Myrtaceae). Telopea 3(3): 421-422, map 8-62