Leptospermum glabrescens
{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image =
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|status =
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|genus = Leptospermum
|species = glabrescens
|authority = N.A.Wakef.{{cite web |title=Leptospermum glabrescens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/98339|website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=31 March 2020}}
|range_map = Leptospermum glabrescensDistA23.png
|range_map_caption = Occurrence data from AVH
}}
Leptospermum glabrescens, commonly known as the smooth teatree, is a shrub or small tree that is endemic to East Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. It has linear, elliptic or narrow egg-shaped leaves, white flowers arranged singly on short side shoots and fruit that remain on the plant.
Description
Leptospermum glabrescens is a shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|1.5-6|m}}. It has smooth bark on the smaller stems, that is shed in stringy strips. The leaves are linear, elliptic or narrow egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, mostly {{cvt|5-13|mm}} long and {{cvt|1-3|mm}} wide, tapering to a very short petiole, and glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly on short side branches and are about {{cvt|12|mm}} in diameter. There are broad, brownish bracts at the base of the flower bud but that usually fall off as the flower develops. The floral cup is about {{cvt|3|mm}} long and densely hairy. The sepals are more or less round, about {{cvt|2|mm}} long and hairy, the petals are white, {{cvt|3-5|mm}} long and the stamens {{cvt|2.5-3|mm}} long. Flowering occurs from December to January and the fruit is a capsule {{cvt|5-7|mm}} wide and remains on 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 |pages=430–431}}{{cite web |title=Leptospermum glabrescens |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/f59e9930-c28a-4da0-91e3-defb9b0ed120 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |accessdate=31 March 2020}}
Taxonomy and naming
Leptospermum glabrescens was first formally described in 1955 by Norman Arthur Wakefield in The Victorian Naturalist,{{cite journal |last1=Wakefield |first1=Norman A. |title=Flora of Victoria: New species and other additions |journal=The Victorian Naturalist |date=1955 |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=43–44 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/127025#page/45/mode/1up |accessdate=31 March 2020}}{{cite web|title=Leptospermum glabrescens|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/524184 |publisher=APNI|accessdate=31 March 2020}} although the original description included specimens now recognised as L. lanigerum. The specific epithet (glabrescens) is a Latin word meaning "almost glabrous" or "becoming glabrous with age".{{cite book |author=Francis Aubie Sharr|title=Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, Western Australia |isbn=9780958034180 |page=206}}
Distribution and habitat
Smooth teatree grows in swampy areas and on the edge of watercourses in east Gippsland, from near Cape Conran to near Mallacoota, with a disjunct population near Buchan.