Leptospermum rupestre
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{speciesbox
|image = Leptospermum sp - Walls of Jerusalem.jpg
|image_caption = Leptospermum rupestre,
Walls of Jerusalem National Park
|genus = Leptospermum
|species = rupestre
|authority = Hook.f.{{cite web |title=Leptospermum rupestre |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/100599 |website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=9 November 2019}}
|synonyms =
|synonyms_ref = {{cite POWO |id=597500-1 |title=Leptospermum rupestre Hook.f. |accessdate=4 January 2024}}
| range_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
| range_map_caption = Leptospermum rupestre is endemic to Tasmania
}}
Leptospermum rupestre, commonly known as alpine tea-tree or prostrate tea-tree,{{cite web |title=Leptospermum rupestre |url=https://www.olelantanaseeds.com.au/product/leptospermum-rupestre-prostrate-or-alpine-tea-tree-seeds-x-200/ |website=Ole Lantana's Seed Store |accessdate=20 December 2019}} is a flowering shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It is endemic to Tasmania. In alpine areas it assumes a prostrate habit while in subalpine areas it appears as a large shrub.
Description
Leptospermum rupestre is a common alpine and subalpine shrub in Tasmania. The growth habit varies, at higher exposed altitudes it is a prostrate plant up to {{cvt|1|m}} high. At lower altitudes it can become a large shrub to {{cvt|4|m}} high. It has small, blunt, shiny dark green, oval to elliptic shaped leaves, {{cvt|2-9|mm}} long. The white flowers are small {{cvt|1|cm}} wide, 5 petalled, with an open habit and flower in profusion in leaf axils during summer. The reddish branches become mat-forming over rocks. The small seed capsules are about {{cvt|5|mm}} in diameter.{{cite book |last1=Wrigley |first1=John W. |last2=Fagg |first2=Murray |title=Australian Native Plants |date=2001 |publisher=Louise Eggerton-Read New Holland |isbn=1-876334-30-4}}{{cite web |title=Leptospermum rupestre |url=https://www.australianplants.com/plants.aspx?id=1491 |website=Australian Native Plants-Online |accessdate=19 December 2019}}{{cite web |url=http://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/MYRTS/sLeptospermum_rupestre.htm|title=Leptospermum rupestre (Myrtaceae)|accessdate=10 January 2012 |work= Key to Tasmanian vascular plants|publisher=University of Tasmania}}
Taxonomy and naming
Leptospermum rupestre was first formally described in 1840 by botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker and the description was published in Icones Plantarum.{{cite web |title=Icones Plantarum |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54439#page/22/mode/1up |website=Biodiversity Heritage Library |accessdate=18 December 2019}}{{cite web |title=Leptospermum rupestre |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/527686 |website=Australian Plant Name Index |accessdate=19 December 2019}} Robert Brown observed it growing on rocky outcrops on Mount Wellington and nearby mountains. The word rupestre is derived from the Latin word rupestris,{{cite book |author=Francis Aubie Sharr |author-link=Francis Aubie Sharr |title=Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya Western Australia |isbn=9780958034180 |page=299}} meaning rocky, referring to the habitat where it was found.
Distribution and habitat
Cultivation
It is one of the hardiest species of its genus and is suitable for cultivation outdoors.Dawson, M. (2012). [https://www.rnzih.org.nz/RNZIH_Journal/Pages_14-22_from_2012_Vol15_No2.pdf "Australian Leptospermum in cultivation: species and cultivars."] NZ Garden J, 15, 14-22.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1529736}}
Category:Myrtales of Australia
Category:Endemic flora of Tasmania