''Leptospermum sejunctum'' is a shrub 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 the Nowra district in New South Wales. It has thin, grey bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, white flowers and fruit that remain on the plant at maturity.

Description

''Leptospermum sejunctum'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height . It has thin, grey bark, the younger stems more or less glabrous with a conspicuous flange. The leaves are elliptical to lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide with a blunt tip and tapering at the base but without a petiole. The flowers are borne singly on short side shoots from adjacent 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. There are pale 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 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 glabrous, 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, 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 about long. The fruit is a capsule about in diameter, the sepals having fallen off, and that remains on the plant when mature.

Taxonomy and naming

''Leptospermum sejunctum'' 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'', based on plant material collected near Nowra in 1981. The species is named for its location, separate from the somewhat similar '' L. variabile'' and '' L. oreophilum''.

Distribution and habitat

This tea-tree grows in sandy soil in forest near Nowra.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15368228 sejunctum Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1989 Taxa named by Joy Thompson