''Leptospermum purpurascens'', commonly known as the purple-stemmed turkey bush, is a 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 ...

far north Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

, Australia. It has bark that is purple when new, elliptical to broadly lance-shaped leaves, relatively small white flowers arranged in pairs and small fruit that falls from the plants when the seeds are released.

Description

''Leptospermum purpurascens'' is a shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of with thin, rough bark that is shed annually to reveal shining purple new bark. Younger stems are hairy at first and have a conspicuous flange near each leaf base. The leaves are elliptical to broadly lance-shaped, about long, wide and glossy on the upper surface, silky hairy on the lower surface. The flowers white, sometimes reddish, wide and usually arranged in pairs. 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, about long and the sepals are 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 about 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 long. Flowering occurs from June to July and the fruit is a capsule about in diameter with the remains of the sepals attached, but that falls from the plant when the seeds are released.

Taxonomy and naming

''Leptospermum purpurascens'' was first formally described in 1989 by

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 ...

in the journal '' Telopea''. 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 ...

(''purpurascens'') is a Latin word meaning "purplish" or "becoming purple", referring to the colour of the new bark.

Distribution and habitat

This tea-tree grows on rocky hillsides in far north Queensland.

Conservation status

This species is classified as "least concern" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

Use in horticulture

This species prefers moist, well-drained soil but is frost tender.

References

External links

''Leptospermum purpurascens'' occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
{{Taxonbar, from =Q15369010 purpurascens Myrtales of Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1989 Taxa named by Joy Thompson