Leptospermeae

Manuka Leptospermum scoparium, copyright Gerald W.

Belongs within: Myrtaceae.

The Leptospermeae are a clade of trees and shrubs producing fruits as a woody capsule, sometimes with delayed opening. In members of the genus Kunzea, the flowers have stamens considerably longer than the petals whereas the stamens of Agonis and Leptospermum are shorter than or little longer than the petals.

Characters (from Wilson et al. 2005): Shrubs or trees; leaves mostly spiral. Inflorescences of solitary flowers or triads sometimes aggregated into head-like clusters of flowers, very rarely into bottlebrush-like structures (Kunzea baxteri); flowers usually with free stamens (except Asteromyrtus), anthers versatile, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Ovary half-inferior; placentas axile; ovules anatropous or hemitropous. Fruit a woody capsule, sometimes with delayed dehiscence; seeds linear or ellipsoid to obovoid, occasionally winged.

<==Leptospermeae [Leptospermineae]
    |  i. s.: Asteromyrtus symphyocarpa WO05, WF01
    |         Angasomyrtus WO05
    |         Homalospermum WO05
    |         Neofabricia WO05
    |         Pericalymma ellipticum WO05, RL05
    |--Kunzea WO05
    |    |--K. ambigua SN08
    |    |--K. baxteri WO05
    |    |--K. capitata WO05
    |    |--K. ericifolia SS05
    |    |--K. ericoides L03
    |    |    |--K. e. var. ericoides L97
    |    |    `--K. e. var. linearis L97
    |    |--K. micrantha GK00
    |    |--K. micromera OS04
    |    |--K. muelleri KC83
    |    |--K. preissiana OS04
    |    |--K. recurva GK00
    |    `--K. sulphurea GK00
    `--+--Agonis WO05
       |    |--A. flexuosa WO05
       |    |--A. hypericifolia GK00
       |    |--A. juniperina GK00
       |    `--A. parviceps GK00
       `--Leptospermum Forster & Forster 1776 WO05, A61
            |--L. arachnoideum C08
            |--L. attenuatum M65
            |--L. brachyandrum M65
            |--L. chapmanii A27
            |--L. continentale YHT05
            |--L. coriaceum G76
            |--L. ellipticum L88
            |--L. ericoides Rich. 1832 A61
            |    |--L. e. var. ericoides A61
            |    |--L. e. var. lineare Kirk 1889 [incl. L. ericoides var. lineatum Kirk 1899, L. lineatum Ckn. 1911] A61
            |    `--L. e. var. microflorum Simpson 1945 A61
            |--L. erubescens OS04
            |--L. fastigiatum G04
            |--L. flavescens M65
            |--L. fraseri A27
            |--L. grandiflorum SN08
            |--L. juniperinum B14
            |--L. laevigatum SN08
            |--L. lanigerum SN08
            |--L. luehmannii M65
            |--L. microcarpum M65
            |--L. myrsinoides YHT05
            |--L. nichollsii A27
            |--L. nitens G04
            |--L. nitidum SN08
            |--L. phylicoides C96
            |--L. recurvum P88
            |--L. riparium Morris in Morris & Curtis 1974 MC74
            |--L. scoparium Forster & Forster 1776 (see below for synonymy) A61
            |    |--L. s. var. scoparium A61
            |    `--L. s. var. incanum Ckn. 1917 A61
            |--L. sinclairii Kirk 1899 A61
            |--L. spectabile WO05
            |--L. spinescens G04
            |--L. stellatum C08
            `--L. trinervium WO05

Leptospermum scoparium Forster & Forster 1776 [incl. L. scoparium var. linifolium Hooker 1852, L. scoparium var. myrtifolium Hooker 1852, L. scoparium var. parvum Kirk 1899, L. scoparium var. prostratum Hooker 1852] A61

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A61] Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand vol. 1. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. R. E. Owen, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[A27] Andersen, J. C. 1927. Popular names of New Zealand plants. Part 2. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 905–977.

[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature's gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).

[C96] Calder, A. A. 1996. Click beetles: genera of the Australian Elateridae (Coleoptera). CSIRO Australia: Collingwood.

[C08] Cambage, R. H. 1908. Notes on the native flora of New South Wales. Part VI. Deepwater to Torrington and Emmaville. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 33 (1): 45–65, pls 1–2.

[G04] Gibson, N. 2004. Flora and vegetation of the Eastern Goldfields Ranges: part 7. Middle and South Ironcap, Digger Rock and Hatter Hill. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 87 (2): 49–62.

[GK00] Gibson, N., & G. J. Keighery. 2000. Flora and vegetation of the Byenup-Muir reserve system, south-west Western Australia. CALMScience 3 (3): 323–402.

[G76] Gross, G. F. 1976. Plant-feeding and Other Bugs (Hemiptera) of South Australia. Heteroptera—Part II. Handbook of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia.

[KC83] Körner, C., & P. Cochrane. 1983. Influence of plant physiognomy on leaf temperature on clear midsummer days in the Snowy Mountains, south-eastern Australia. Acta Œcologica Œcologiae Plantae 4 (2): 117–124.

[L97] Lange, P. J. de. 1997. Hebe brevifolia (Scrophulariaceae)—an ultramafic endemic of the Surville Cliffs, North Cape, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 35: 1–8.

[L03] Leschen, R. A. B. 2003. Erotylidae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cucujoidea): phylogeny and review. Fauna of New Zealand 47: 1–108.

[L88] Long, J. L. 1988. Introduced Birds and Mammals in Western Australia 2^nd ed. Agriculture Protection Board of Western Australia.

[M65] Michener, C. D. 1965. A classification of the bees of the Australian and South Pacific regions. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 130: 1–362.

[MC74] Morris, D. I., & W. M. Curtis. 1974. Recent additions to the Tasmanian flora and some notes on nomenclature. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum 50: 1–5.

[OS04] Obbens, F. J., & L. W. Sage. 2004. Vegetation and flora of a diverse upland remnant of the Western Australian wheatbelt (Nature Reserve A21064). Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 87 (1): 19–28.

[P88] Polunin, I. 1988. Plants and Flowers of Malaysia. Times Editions: Singapore.

[RL05] Rafferty, C., & B. B. Lamont. 2005. Selective feeding by macropods on vegetation regenerating following fire. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 88 (4): 155–165.

[SN08] Schmidt, E. R., & T. R. New. 2008. The Psocoptera (Insecta) of Tasmania, Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 65: 71–152.

[SS05] Semeniuk, V., & C. A. Semeniuk. 2005. Wetland sediments and soils on the Swan Coastal Plain, southwestern Australia: types, distribution, susceptibility to combustion, and implications for fire management. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 88 (3): 91–120.

[WO05] Wilson, P. G., M. M. O'Brien, M. M. Heslewood & C. J. Quinn. 2005. Relationships within Myrtaceae sensu lato based on a matK phylogeny. Plant Systematics and Evolution 251: 3–19.

[WF01] Woinarski, J. C. Z., A. Fisher, K. Brennan, I. Morris & R. Chatto. 2001. Patterns of bird species richness and composition on islands off Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Austral Ecology 26: 1–13.

[YHT05] Yates, C. J., S. D. Hopper & R. H. Taplin. 2005. Native insect flower visitor diversity and feral honeybees on jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) in Kings Park, an urban bushland remnant. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 88 (4): 147–153.

Last updated: 6 July 2020.