''Leptospermum coriaceum'', commonly known as green tea-tree or mallee teatree, is a shrub species that is endemic to south-eastern and south-central Australia. It has smooth bark on the younger stems, elliptic to narrow egg-shaped leaves, white flowers and woody fruit. The usual habitat is mallee on sand dunes.

Description

''Leptospermum coriaceum'' is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of . It has rough bark that is shed annually on the larger branches and smooth bark on the younger stems. The leaves are egg-shaped to lance-shaped or elliptical, long and wide with a short, blunt point on the tip and a short petiole at the base. The flowers are in diameter and are borne in pairs on short shoots 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. The floral cup is sessile, glabrous or silky, long. The sepals are triangular, 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 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 long. Flowering occurs from June to October or November and the fruit is a woody capsule wide and that falls off the plant when the seeds are released.

Taxonomy and naming

The green tea-tree was first formally described in 1856 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 ''Fabricia coriacea'' and published the description in a paper in the journal ''Nederlandsch Kruidkundig Archief''. (The paper was written by

Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel (24 October 1811 – 23 January 1871) was a Dutch botanist, whose main focus of study was on the flora of the Dutch East Indies. Early life Miquel was born in Neuenhaus and studied medicine at the University of Groni ...

but the name and descriptive paragraphs are attributed to Mueller.) In 1923, Edwin Cheel changed the name to ''Leptospermum coriaceum''. 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 ...

(''coriaceum'') is a Latin word meaning "leathery".

Distribution and habitat

''Leptospermum coriaceum'' grows in mallee and heath in deep sandy soil on sand dunes from southern South Australia and north western Victoria to south of Cobar in inland New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15367875 coriaceum Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1856