Leptospermum obovatum

River Tea Tree at Molonglo Valley, ACT

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Identification history

Leptospermum obovatum	30 Nov 2018	BettyDonWood
Leptospermum obovatum	30 Nov 2018	BettyDonWood
Leptospermum grandifolium	23 Nov 2018	BettyDonWood
Leptospermum sp.	22 Nov 2018	galah681

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5 comments

BettyDonWood wrote:

23 Nov 2018

Do you have photos of a sideways on flower to show whether the floral tube (hypanthium) is hairy or not, a photo of a young nut to show whether it hangs on to its sepals or not, and a sideways on view of a nut to show its shape and how long its stalk is? From the fact that the fronts of the leaves are glossy I don’t think this is Leptospermum lanigerum, though in this case a photo of older bark to show whether it is smooth and sheds in papery strips (grandifolium) or is fibrous and persistent (lanigerum) would provide more information.
If the flower hypanthium is not hairy I will have to do a rethink.

galah681 wrote:

24 Nov 2018

I will try to take a photo of the flower from the side next week. This is the first time the plant has flowered as it was only planted last year, so no nuts yet and no old bark, but will watch for the nuts and photograph them when they appear. The closest species I could find was L. micromyrtus. It would be good to identify the plant as we currently do not know the species.

BettyDonWood wrote:

24 Nov 2018

I think that if the hypanthium was hairy you would have noticed it. It sticks out like a sore thumb. I have looked at the Vicflora key to Leptospermum, assuming the hypanthium was hairless. Unfortunately it distinguishes micromyrtus and obovatum, both of which are on the ACT Plant Census (2017) on the bark (in micromyrtus, smooth on larger stems, shedding in papery strips, bark on smaller stems shedding in papery flakes. In obovatum bark on larger stems fibrous, persistent, bark on smaller stems shedding in stringy strips) and the habitat (no use in a planted specimen). In this key, both species can have obtuse tips on the leaves.

BettyDonWood wrote:

29 Nov 2018

It looks as if you will have to wait till the plant gets a bit older to see what the bark does.

galah681 wrote:

30 Nov 2018

I have added 3 photos from another plant close by which I think is the same species but a couple of years older. One of the photos is of the bark at the base of the shrub.

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