Leptospermopsis nitens is a species of slender shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has thin, fibrous bark, narrow egg-shaped to wedge-shaped leaves, white or pink flowers on short side branches and fruit with the sepals attached but that falls from the plant shortly after the seeds reach maturity.
| Leptospermopsis nitens | |
|---|---|
| |
| Near Ravensthorpe | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Leptospermopsis |
| Species: | L. nitens
|
| Binomial name | |
| Leptospermopsis nitens | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Leptospermum nitens Turcz. | |
Description
editLeptospermopsis nitens is a slender shrub that typically grows to a height of about 3 m (9.8 ft) with thin, fibrous bark on the older branches and younger stems with soft, silky hairs at first. The leaves are narrow egg-shaped to narrow wedge-shaped, 5–12 mm (0.20–0.47 in) long and 1.5–3.5 mm (0.059–0.138 in) wide on a short petiole. The flowers are white or pink, about 7–12 mm (0.28–0.47 in) wide and are borne singly or in pairs on short side shoots. The floral cup is about 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long and is covered with flattened silky hairs, on a pedicel about 2 mm (0.079 in) long. The sepals are triangular, about 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long and covered with flattened hairs like those on the floral cup. The petals are about 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long and the stamens about 2 mm (0.079 in) long. Flowering occurs from July to October, or in December or January and the fruit is a capsule 2.5–4 mm (0.098–0.157 in) long with the remains of the sepals attached, but that falls from the plant when the seeds mature.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
editThis species was first formally described in 1852 by Nikolai Turczaninow who gave it the name Leptospermum nitens in the Bulletin de la Classe Physico-Mathématique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg from material collected by James Drummond.[4][5] In 2023, Peter Gordon Wilson transferred the species to the genus Leptospermopsis as L. nitens in the journal Taxon.[1][6] The specific epithet (nitens) is a Latin word meaning "bright" or "gleaming".[7]
Distribution and habitat
editThis tea-tree is often found on hills and among granite or sandstone rocks in parts of the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Mallee and Murchison biogeographic regions.[2][3]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Leptospermopsis nitens". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Leptospermum nitens". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b Thompson, Joy (1989). "A revision of the genus Leptospermum (Myrtaceae)". Telopea. 3 (3): 373–374.
- ^ "Leptospermum nitens". APNI. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ Turczaninow, Nikolai (1852). "Myrtaceae Xerocarpicae in Nova Hollandia a cl. Drummond lectae et plerumque in collectione ejus quinta distributae, determinatae et descriptae". Bulletin de la Classe Physico-Mathématique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg. 10: 335. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ Wilson, Peter G.; Heslewood, Margaret M. (2023). "Revised taxonomy of the tribe Leptospermeae (Myrtaceae) based on morphological and DNA data". Taxon. 72 (3): 550–571. doi:10.1002/tax.12892. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya, Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 261. ISBN 9780958034180.