Leptospermum polygalifolium
Yellow Tea Tree
Yellow Tea Tree
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids > Myrtaceae > Leptospermum polygalifolium
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Common name: Yellow Tea Tree
Also, tantoon and jellybush
Conservation status: unknown
Etymology:
The specific epithet (polygalifolium) is a reference to the genus Polygala, with the ending -folium from the Latin -folius meaning "-leaved"
Flowers:
The flowers are white, greenish, cream-coloured or sometimes pink, mostly 10–15 mm in diameter and are arranged singly on short side shoots
There are dark reddish-brown bracts and similar bracteoles at the base of the young flower buds but that are shed as the bud develops
The floral cup is usually glabrous, 2–4 mm long, tapering to a pedicel about 1 mm long
The sepals are broadly egg-shaped to oblong, 1.5–2.5 mm long and are lost before the fruit develops
The petals are 4–6 mm long and the stamens 2.5–4 mm long
Flowering mainly occurs from August to January and the fruit is a capsule about 5–8 mm in diameter that remains on the plant for a few years
Fruit:
Leaves:
Stem & branches:
Thin bark but that is thick and flaky in larger specimens
Younger stems are covered with short hairs at first and have a conspicuous flange near the leaf bases
Roots:
Habit:
A shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–3 m or a tree to 7 m or more
It has thin bark, elliptical leaves, white flowers arranged singly on short side shoots and fruit that remain on the plant for a few years
Habitat:
Distribution:
Endemic to eastern Australia, including Lord Howe Island
Additional notes:
Taxonomy and naming
Leptospermum polygalifolium was first described by Richard Salisbury in 1797 from a specimen collected in Port Jackson
The description was published in Salisbury's book, Prodromus Stirpium in Horto ad Chapel Allerton Vigentium
Subspecies
In 1989, Joy Thompson described six subspecies and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. cismontanum Joy Thomps. has leaves 8–10 mm x 2 mm that tend to have edges turned under, white flowers about 10 mm wide, fruit 5–7 mm wide and occurs from Fraser Island to Gosford;
Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. howense Joy Thomps. has leaves 5–8 mm long, white flowers about 15 mm in diameter and fruit 5–8 mm in diameter and is endemism to Lord Howe Island
Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. montanum Joy Thomps, has leaves 10–15 mm x 3–5 mm that tend to have edges turned under, white flowers about 12 mm wide, fruit 6–9 mm wide and occurs in montane eastern Australia from Southeast Queensland to Barrington Tops
Leptospermum polygalifolium Salisb. subsp. polygalifolium has leaves 10–20 mm x 2–3 mm that tend to have edges turned under, greenish or creamy-white flowers about 12 mm wide
Fruit 6–10 mm wide and occurs from central eastern New South Wales to the southern border with Victoria;
Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. transmontanum Joy Thomps. has leaves 10–15 mm x 2 mm that are flat and stiff, white flowers 10–12 mm wide, fruit 6–7 mm wide and occurs from the White Mountains in Queensland to the Hunter River in NSW
Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. tropicum Joy Thomps. has leaves 5–20 mm x 1–1.5 mm and occurs from Cooktown to Keppel Bay in Queensland
Sources of information: