Leptospermum rotundifolium

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         Round-leaved Tea Tree

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

Flowers

• The flowers are borne singly, 25–30 mm in diameter and are sessile, the sepals 3–4 mm long, the petals 8–12 mm long and white or pink

• Flowering occurs from October to December 

Fruit:                            

• The fruit are hemispherical and mostly 8–12 mm in diameter

Leaves:         

• The leaves are thick, more or less circular with a small, blunt point on the tip, mostly 4–7 mm long and wide on a petiole about 1 mm long

• They are smooth and slightly shiny and give off an aromatic perfume when bruised

Stem & branches: 

• The bark on mature specimens is gnarled and slightly flaky

Roots:         

Habit:        

• An erect shrub that typically grows to a height of more than 2 m 

Habitat:   

• Rocky places in shrubby heath or forest 

Distribution:          

• From near Sydney to Nerriga in near-coastal areas of NSW

• It has also been naturalised in a small area in the Shire of Manjimup in south-western Western Australia and was recorded once in eastern Victoria

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • This tea-tree was first formally described in 1900 by Joseph Maiden and Ernst Betche who gave it the name Leptospermum scoparium var. rotundifolium in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of NSW from specimens collected south of the Shoalhaven River in 1900

  • In 1919, Edwin Cheel published a paper in the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of NSW] crediting Frederick Arthur Rodway with raising the variety to species status as Leptospermum rotundifolium

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospermum_rotundifolium (2024)