''Gaudium brevipes'', commonly known as the slender tea-tree, is a species of shrub or small tree that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to eastern Australia. It has fibrous bark on the main stems, smooth bark on young stems, narrow elliptical to narrow egg-shaped leaves, white flowers and hemispherical fruit that is shed when mature.

Description

''Gaudium brevipes'' is a shrub or small tree that typically grows to high. The bark on its larger stems is rough but young stems have smooth bark that is shed in stringy strips and have a flange near the base of the petiole. The leaves are narrow elliptical to narrow egg-shaped, long, wide, hairy at first but become glabrous. The flowers are borne singly or in pairs in leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

s and are in diameter on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long. The

floral cup In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...

is hairy and about long. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are triangular, silky hairy and about long. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are white, long and the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are about long. Flowering occurs from October to December and the fruit is a silky-hairy, hemispherical capsule in diameter with the sepals attached and that is shed when mature.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1855 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

who gave it the name ''Leptospermum brevipes'' in his book ''Definitions of rare or hitherto undescribed Australian plants''. In 2023,

Peter Gordon Wilson Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

transferred the species to the genus ''Gaudium'' as ''G. brevipes'' in the journal ''

Taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''brevipes'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "short-footed".

Distribution and habitat

Slender tea-tree grows in woodland and shrubland, usually on rocky granite outcrops and near rocky streams. It occurs from the

Granite Belt The Granite Belt is an area of the Great Dividing Range in the Darling Downs region of Queensland and the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The Granite Belt is centred on the town of Stanthorpe. The cool, high country of the gra ...

in south-eastern Queensland, mostly along the tablelands of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory to eastern Victoria.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15369742 brevipes Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (state) Plants described in 1855 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller