''Gaudium lamellatum'' 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 inland Queensland and has distinctive reddish, layered bark. It has narrow elliptical leaves, white flowers and small fruit that fall from the plant when mature.
Description
''Gaudium lamellatum'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of about or a tree to more than . The main stems have layers of papery, reddish bark. Younger stems are thin and covered at first with silky hairs. The leaves are narrow elliptical, long and wide and often slightly curved. The flowers are white and are borne singly or in pairs on short side branches, and are wide 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 ridged, 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 broadly egg-shaped 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 long and the stamens long. Flowering mainly occurs from August to November and the fruit is a
capsule in diameter with the remains of the sepals attached, but the fruit fall from the plant shortly after reaching maturity.
Taxonomy
''Gaudium lamellatum'' was first formally described in 1989 by Joy Thompson in the journal ''
Telopea'', based on plant material collected from
Bedourie Station in 1963.
In 2023,
Peter Gordon Wilson transferred the species to the genus ''Gaudium'' as ''G. lamellatum'' 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 ...
(''lamellatum'') refers to the unusual bark of this species.
Distribution and habitat
This tea tree grows in woodland, among rocks and near watercourses in inland Queensland, from the
White Mountains National Park to near
Millmerran
Millmerran , known as Domville between 1 June 1889 and 16 November 1894, is a town and a locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Millmerran had a population of 1,563 people.
Geography
The town is on the ...
.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15368216
lamellatum
Myrtales of Australia
Flora of Queensland
Plants described in 1989