''Leptospermum polygalifolium'', commonly known as tantoon, jellybush or yellow tea tree, is a species of shrub or tree of the family

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

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, including

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

. It has thin bark, elliptical leaves, white flowers arranged singly on short side shoots and fruit that remain on the plant for a few years.

Description

''Leptospermum polygalifolium'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of or a tree to or more, with thin bark but that is thick and flaky in larger specimens. Younger stems are covered with short hairs at first and have a conspicuous flange near the leaf bases. The flowers are white, greenish, cream-coloured or sometimes pink, mostly in diameter and are arranged singly on short side shoots. There are dark reddish-brown

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s and similar

bracteoles In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

at the base of the young flower buds but that are shed as the bud develops. 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 usually

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

, long, tapering to 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 ...

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 broadly egg-shaped to oblong, long and are lost before the fruit develops. 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

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 mainly occurs from August to January and the fruit is a capsule about in diameter that remains on the plant for a few years.

Taxonomy and naming

''Leptospermum polygalifolium'' was first described by Richard Salisbury in 1797 from a specimen collected in

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. The description was published in Salisbury's book, ''Prodromus Stirpium in Horto ad Chapel Allerton Vigentium''. 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 ...

(''polygalifolium'') is a reference to the genus ''

Polygala ''Polygala'' is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world

Subspecies

In 1989,

Joy Thompson Joy Thompson (born Joy Gardiner-Garden, 1923, died 2018) was an Australian botanist. Her main research areas were taxonomy and Myrtaceae. Life & Career Thompson's university studies occurred during the second world war and in university vacatio ...

described six subspecies and the names are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Leptospermum polygalifolium'' subsp. ''cismontanum'' Joy Thomps. has leaves x that tend to have edges turned under, white flowers about wide, fruit wide and occurs from

Fraser Island Fraser Island (Butchulla: ) is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fraser ...

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...

. * ''Leptospermum polygalifolium'' subsp. ''howense'' Joy Thomps. has leaves long, white flowers about in diameter and fruit in diameter and is endemism to Lord Howe Island. * ''Leptospermum polygalifolium'' subsp. ''montanum'' Joy Thomps. has leaves x that tend to have edges turned under, white flowers about wide, fruit wide and occurs in montane eastern Australia from Southeast Queensland to

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area has ...

. * ''Leptospermum polygalifolium'' Salisb. subsp. ''polygalifolium'' has leaves x that tend to have edges turned under, greenish or creamy-white flowers about wide, fruit wide and occurs from central eastern New South Wales to the southern border with Victoria. * ''Leptospermum polygalifolium'' subsp. ''transmontanum'' Joy Thomps. has leaves x that are flat and stiff, white flowers wide, fruit wide and occurs from the White Mountains in Queensland to the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

in New South Wales. * ''Leptospermum polygalifolium'' subsp. ''tropicum'' Joy Thomps. has leaves x and occurs from

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...

Keppel Bay Keppel Bay is a bay in Central Queensland, Australia at the mouth of the Fitzroy River on the coast of the Coral Sea. Extent Keppel Bay extends from Station Point on Curtis Island () in the Gladstone Region to Zilzie Point at Zilzie () i ...

in Queensland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4460549 polygalifolium Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1797 Taxa named by Richard Anthony Salisbury