MELBOURNE STREET TREES 137 - WHITE LEPTOSPERMUM

White's Tea-Tree, Leptospermum whitei, is a sturdy, often multi-stemmed shrub reaching up to 5m in height (under ideal conditions). Its preferred habitat are margins of coastal swamp forests and tidal waterways (here growing on the banks of the Werribee River). Young bark is mid-brown in colour turning grey with age and has a rough fibrous texture where old bark is shedding in papery short strips.

Flowers appear in tight clusters over spring to early summer featuring five bright white and obovate shaped petals characteristic for the Leptospermum genus. They measure up to 12 mm in diameter when fully opened. Young green stems are covered in short fine hair. Simple leaves with an alternate arrangement are; up to 3 cm in length, elliptic in shape with entire margins, hairless, dark green, rather dull on top, thick with a stiff texture. Venation is obscure except for mid vein. Leaf apex is acute ending in a blunt point, base shape is cuneate. The petiole is nearly non existent at 1 -2 mm in length. The species is named after Cyril Tenison White (1890-1950), botanist.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.