Leptospermum recurvum
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Leptospermum recurvum (13944334739).jpg
|image_caption =
|genus = Leptospermum
|species = recurvum
|authority = Hook.f.[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:597489-1 Leptospermum recurvum Hook.f.] Plants of the World Online. Accessed 3 April 2023.
}}
Leptospermum recurvum is a species of shrub or tree that is native to Mount Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo and to Sulawesi. It has pale, flaky bark, broadly elliptical to almost round leaves, white flowers about {{cvt|12|mm}} wide and fruit that tend to remain on the plant for a year or two.
Description
Leptospermum recurvum is sometimes a prostrate shrub, sometimes a tree to {{cvt|20|m}} or more in height. It has thin, pale, flaky bark and young stems that have a broad flange near the leaf bases. The leaves are broadly elliptical to egg-shaped or almost round with their edges strongly curved downwards, mostly {{cvt|3–5|mm}} long and {{cvt|2–3|mm}} wide, and lack a petiole. The upper surface of the leaves is mostly glossy and the lower surface usually silky-hairy at first. The flowers are white, about {{cvt|12|mm}} wide and arranged singly on short side shoots. There are broad reddish brown bracts at the base of the flower buds that mostly remain at the base of the open flowers. The floral cup is {{cvt|2–3|mm}} long, tapering to a short pedicel. The sepals are {{cvt|1.5–2|mm}} long and almost hemispherical, the petals are about {{cvt|5|mm}} long and the stamens about {{cvt|2.5|mm}} long. Flowering probably occurs in most months. The fruit is a capsule {{cvt|6–7|mm}} wide and that tends to remain on the plant for a few years.{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Joy |title=A revision of the genus Leptospermum (Myrtaceae) |journal=Telopea |date=1989 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=391–392|doi=10.7751/telopea19894902 |doi-access=free }}
Taxonomy and naming
Leptospermum recurvum was first formally described in 1852 by Joseph Dalton Hooker in William Jackson Hooker's book, Icones Plantarum. The type specimens were collected from "Kina Balu" where the species was recorded as being "abundant, from {{cvt|7000–8500|ft}}, whitening the top of the mountain".{{cite web|title=Leptospermum recurvum|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/690632 |publisher=APNI|accessdate=24 May 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Hooker |first1=Joseph Dalton |editor-last1=Hooker |editor-first1=William Jackson |title=Icones Plantarum |volume=9 |date=1852 |publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman |location=London |page=893 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54430#page/187/mode/1up |accessdate=24 May 2020}}