Common Name: MYRTLE FAMILY Habit: [Subshrub] shrub, tree, trunk bark smooth or scaly; glands 0 or embedded in epidermis. Leaf: opposite or alternate, persistent, generally glandular when young. Inflorescence: generally axillary, raceme, panicle, cyme, or flowers 1. Flower: generally bisexual, parts in 4s, 5s, generally +- white; hypanthium exceeding ovary or not; stamens generally many; ovary [rarely superior to] inferior, 2--5(18)-chambered; placentas axillary, just below top, or basal, ovules few to many, generally in 2--many series. Fruit: berry, capsule, nut. Seed: 1--many; coat membranous to +- leathery or hard, bony; embryo starchy or oily (of great taxonomic importance). Genera In Family: 100 genera, +- 3500 species: many species tropical America, Australasia, fewer Africa, southern Asia; economically important for timber (Eucalyptus), spices (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & L.M. Perry, cloves; Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr., allspice), edible fruits (Psidium guajava L., guava; Acca sellowiana (O. Berg) Burret, pineapple guava), many orns (Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, several other genera). Note: Apparently of Gondwanan origins; tropics, subtropics, Mediterranean climates. Chamelaucium uncinatum Schauer, Luma apiculata (DC.) Burret, Melaleuca citrina (Curtis) Dum.Cours., Myrtus communis L., Syzygium australe (Link) B. Hyland are waifs. eFlora Treatment Author: Leslie R. Landrum, except as noted Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Habit: Shrub, small tree. Stem: trunk spreading to erect, twisted; bark fibrous, shed in long strips. Inflorescence: flowers 1--3 in leaf axils. Flower: calyx lobes, petals, 5, free; hypanthium generally widely cup-shaped; petals white, pink, or red; stamens many; chambers 5--many; style extending to or exceeded by stamens. Fruit: capsule, woody, opening at top; chambers many. Seed: many, generally 1--3 mm. Etymology: (Greek: slender seed) eFlora Treatment Author: Leslie R. Landrum & Elizabeth McClintock Reference: O'Brien et al. 2000 Austral J Bot 48:621--628
Leptospermum laevigatum (Gaertn.) F. Muell.
NATURALIZED Stem: trunk generally spreading. Leaf: alternate, 10--25 mm, oblanceolate to obovate-oblong; main veins 3, inconspicuous; tip blunt or mucronate. Flower: 1.5--2 cm wide, +- sessile; calyx lobes +- triangular, 1--1.5 mm, persisting until fruit matures, silky adaxially; petals spreading, white, ephemeral; stamens to +- 20, +- 2 mm, < (or =) perianth; style +- 1 mm, glabrous. Fruit: 7--8 mm wide; valves +- exserted, 7--10. Ecology: Uncommon. Disturbed coastal areas; Elevation: < 50 m. Bioregional Distribution: CCo; Distribution Outside California: native to southeastern Australia. Flowering Time: Spring Note: Commonly cultivated in coastal California, for sand stabilization or not. Jepson eFlora Author: Leslie R. Landrum & Elizabeth McClintock Reference: O'Brien et al. 2000 Austral J Bot 48:621--628 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Leptospermum Next taxon: Luma
Citation for this treatment: Leslie R. Landrum & Elizabeth McClintock 2012, Leptospermum laevigatum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=30642, accessed on October 04, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on October 04, 2024.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
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Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
