Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
1. Leptospermum, Forst
1. Leptospermum, Forst.
Shrubs or small trees, glabrous or silky-pubescent. Leaves small, alternate, entire. Flowers solitary or 2–3 together, axillary or at the ends of the branchlets, often polygamous. Calyx-tube campanulate or turbinate, adnate to the ovary below; lobes 5. Petals 5, spreading. Stamens numerous, free, in a single series; anthers versatile. Ovary inferior or half-superior, enclosed in the calyx-tube, 5- or more-celled, rarely 3–4-celled; style filiform; stigma capitate or peltate. Capsule woody or coriaceous, exceeding the calyx-tube or altogether included in it, opening loculicidally at the top. Seeds numerous in each cell, but most of them sterile, pendulous, linear or angular.
A genus of about 28 species, almost wholly Australian; a few only in New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Malay Archipelago. One of the New Zealand species is also found in Australia, the remaining two are endemic.
Leaves pungent. Flowers ⅓–½ in. diam., solitary. Calyxlobes deciduous. Capsule half-exserted 1. L. scoparium. Leaves not pungent. Flowers ⅕ in. diam., usually fascicled. Calyx-lobes persistent. Capsule included in the calyx-tube 2. L. ericoides. Leaves not pungent, white with silky hairs. Flowers ¼ in. diam. Calyx-lobes persistent. Capsule deeply sunk within the calyx-tube 3. L. Sinclairii.
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L. scoparium, Forst. Char. Gen. 72, t. 36.—A shrub or small tree, extremely variable in size, usually 6–18 ft. high, but sometimes dwarfed to a foot or two, occasionally reaching 20–25 ft. with a trunk 12–18 in. diam.; branches fastigiate or spreading; branchlets and young leaves silky. Leaves ⅙–½ in. long, variable in shape, linear or linear-lanceolate to broadly ovate, sessile, rigid, concave, acute and pungent-pointed, veinless, dotted, erect or spreading, rarely recurved. Flowers sessile, solitary, axillary or terminating the branchlets, ¼–½ in. diam. Calyx-tube broadly turbinate; lobes orbicular, deciduous. Petals orbicular, slightly clawed. Capsule woody, persistent, half sunk in the calyx-tube, which forms a rim round it, the free portion 5-valved.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 337; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 553; Raoul, Choix, 49; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 69; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 69; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 117; Students' Fl. 157. Var. linifolium, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 69.—Leaves narrow linear-lanceolate. Var. myrtifolium, Hook, f. l.c.—Leaves ovate, spreading or recurved. Var. parvum, Kirk, Students' Fl. 158.—1–3 ft. high. Leaves ⅛ in. long, ovate, spreading. Flowers smaller, ⅛–⅙ in. Var. prostratum, Hook. f. l.c.—Small, often prostrate, branches ascending at the tips. Leaves ovate or almost orbicular, recurved. A mountain form. North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abund ant throughout, ascending to 3500 ft. Manuka; Tea-tree. October–April. Also plentiful in Australia and Tasmania. page 161Too well known to need comment here. The wood is dark-red, hard and durable, and is applied to a variety of purposes, but can seldom be obtained of large size. An infusion of the leaves has been used in the place of tea. |
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L. ericoides, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 338.—A shrub or tree 20–60 ft. high, with a trunk 1–3 ft. diam.; bark loose, papery; branchlets slender, glabrous or the younger sparingly silky. Leaves fascicled or alternate, ⅙–½ in. long, very narrow-linear or linear-lanceolate, sometimes narrow linear-spathulate, acute but not pungent, concave, veinless, dotted, glabrous or slightly silky; margins often ciliate when young. Flowers ⅛–¼ in. diam., axillary, solitary or fascicled, usually produced in great profusion; pedicels short, glabrous or silky. Calyx-tube turbinate; lobes ovate, acute, persistent. Petals orbicular, shortly clawed. Capsule small, turbinate, wholly included within the calyx-tube.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 554; Raoul, Choix, 49; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 70; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 70; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 69; Students' Fl. 158. Var. lineatum, Kirk, l.c.— Smaller and more slender, 2–12 ft. high, usually more silky. Leaves narrower, 1/30–1/20 in. broad. Flowers smaller, ⅛ in. diam. North and South Islands: Abundant from the North Cape to the Bluff, ascending to 3000 ft. Var. lineatum, from the North Cape to the Auckland Isthmus. Kanuka; Maru. November–January. Easily distinguished from the preceding by its greater size, narrower leaves, smaller Flowers, and much smaller capsules, which are entirely included in the calyx-tube. Wood durable; much used for piles, house-blocks, posts and rails, &c. |
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L. Sinclairii, T. Kirk, Students' Fl. 158.—A small prostrate or suberect shrub 1–5 ft. high; branches spreading; young shoots, leaves, pedicels, and calyces hoary with appressed silky hairs. Leaves ¼–½ in. long, linear-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute, flat or concave. Flowers larger than in L. ericoides, ¼ in. diam., on longer pedicels, often crowded towards the ends of the branchlets, forming rounded heads. Calyx-tube narrow-turbinate; lobes oblong or ovate, acute or obtuse, persistent. Petals obovate, clawed. Capsule narrow-turbinate, more deeply sunk within the calyx-tube than in L. ericoides. North Island: Three Kings Islands, T. F. C.; Great Barrier Island, Hutton. and Kirk! Sea-level to 1800 ft. November–January. This is very close to L. ericoides. Its distinguishing characters are the smaller size, broader and flatter silky-hoary leaves, larger flowers, and more deeply sunk capsules. |