Gaudium trinervium
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Flaky-barked tea-tree
|image = Leptospermum_trinervium_flower_(8727699341).jpg
|image_caption = In the Royal National Park
|genus = Gaudium
|species = trinervium
|authority = (John White) (Peter G.Wilson){{cite web |title=Gaudium trinervium |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77327775-1 |publisher=Plant of the World Online |access-date=15 August 2024}}
|synonyms = {{collapsible list|
- Leptospermum trinervium (J.White) Joy Thomps.
- Melaleuca trinervia J.White
- Leptospermum acuminatum Reider
- Leptospermum attenuatum Sm.
- Leptospermum gnidiifolium DC.
- Leptospermum lucidum S.Schauer
- Leptospermum pendulum Spreng.
- Leptospermum stellatum Cav.
- Leptospermum stellatum f. angustifolium Domin
- Leptospermum stellatum f. fallax Domin
- Leptospermum stellatum var. grandiflorum Benth.
- Leptospermum stellatum var. typicum Hochr. not validly publ.
- Leptospermum trinerve Sm.
}}
|range_map = Leptospermum trinerviumDistA85.png
|range_map_caption = Occurrence data from AVH
}}
Gaudium trinervium, commonly known as flaky-barked tea-tree, slender tea-tree{{cite web |title=Gaudium trinervium |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Gaudium~trinervium |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |accessdate=14 August 2024}} or paperbark tree,{{cite web |title=Gaudium trinervium |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/2eee0b53-374b-4d65-a2cd-7504a0b9fbe1 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |accessdate=14 June 2024}} is a species of shrub or small tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has papery bark that is shed in thin, flaking layers, narrow elliptic to broadly egg-shaped leaves with the narrower at the base, white flowers and silky-hairy fruit that falls from the plant when mature.
Description
Gaudium trinervium is a shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|2–6|m}} and has papery bark that is shed in thin, flaking strips. The leaves are narrow elliptical to broadly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, {{cvt|9–22|mm}} long and {{cvt|1–6|mm}} wide, the tip usually blunt and the base tapering to a short petiole. The flowers are white, about {{cvt|7–15|mm}} wide and arranged singly or in pairs on the ends of short side shoots. The floral cup is densely covered with silky hairs, about {{cvt|3|mm}} long tapering to a pedicel of variable length. The sepals are also hairy, oblong to triangular, about {{cvt|1.5–2.5|mm}} long, the five petals {{cvt|5–7|mm}} long and the stamens {{cvt|1.5–2|mm}} long. Flowering mostly occurs from September to October near the coast and from November to December on the tablelands. The fruit is a capsule {{cvt|3–6|mm}} wide with the remains of the sepals attached and that falls the plant at maturity.{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Joy |title=A revision of the genus Leptospermum (Myrtaceae) |journal=Telopea |date=1989 |volume=3 |issue=3 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/290179#page/380/mode/1up |pages=366–368}}
Taxonomy
This tea-tree was first described in 1790 by John White who gave it the name Melaleuca trinervia and published the description in his Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales.{{cite web|title=Melaleuca trinervia|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/545289 |publisher=APNI|accessdate=13 June 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=James Edward |editor-last1=White |editor-first1=John |title=Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales |date=1790 |publisher=John Debrett |location=London |page=229 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/181420#page/299/mode/1up |accessdate=13 June 2020}} In 2023, Peter Gordon Wilson transferred the species to the genus Gaudium as G. trinervium in the journal Taxon.{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Peter G. |last2=Heslewood |first2=Margaret M. |title=Revised taxonomy of the tribe Leptospermeae (Myrtaceae) based on morphological and DNA data |journal=Taxon |date=2023 |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=550–571 |doi=10.1002/tax.12892 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tax.12892 |access-date=28 July 2024|url-access=subscription }}
Distribution and habitat
Flaky-barked tea-tree mainly grows in forest but is also found in heath and scrub, especially among sandstone rocks. It occurs on the coast and tablelands south from Rockhampton in Queensland through eastern New South Wales in near coastal scrubland and woodland in far eastern Victoria.
Use in horticulture
Gaudium trinervium is a hardy, although not showy plant, the bark being its most unusual feature. It can be propagated from seed or from cuttings and is frost hardy.{{cite web |title=Leptospermum trinervium |url=http://www.cpbr.gov.au/leptospermum/leptospermum-trinervium.html |publisher=Australian National Botanic Gardens |accessdate=14 June 2020}}