The leptospermums are universally known as tea trees and are common in local bushland.
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Tea trees belong to the Myrtaceae family in company with the bottlebrushes and eucalypts. There are about 80 species plus a few hybrids.
Unlike most native plants, the tea trees are rather cosmopolitan in their distribution. Most species are native to Australia but a small number are found in New Zealand, New Guinea and Southeast Asia.
Tea trees vary in size from small to tall shrubs with aromatic foliage.
Their flowers are usually white but a few have red or pink flowers. They have five petals.
The blooms are rich in nectar and attract insects including honeybees. Woody capsules follow the flowers and contain many small seeds.
Leptospermum brevipes, the grey tea tree, is a tall shrub with pendulous foliage. Small white flowers cover the plants in spring and summer.
Appropriately, the grey tea tree grows along Tea Tree Creek, west of Armidale. The species is also widespread in Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve, also west of Armidale.
Leptospermum brevipes would be a colourful addition to an informal hedge or shelterbelt.
A nursery in southern NSW has hybridised many native plants including tea trees.
Two of their hybrids have adapted to life in local gardens. Leptospermum “Aphrodite” is a medium, spreading shrub with small aromatic leaves and large, bright pink flowers that appear in spring and summer.
This hybrid appreciates pruning after the flowers fade and would be a useful addition to a native shrubbery. Small native birds use the dense foliage for nesting.
Leptospermum “Rudolph” is the other significant hybrid that grows into an upright, medium shrub with attractive purplish foliage.
The foliage is complemented by large, red flowers that cover the branches in spring and summer.
Growth habit, foliage and flowers are all attractive features. This is one of our favourite tea trees and is grown as a foreground shrub in many of our garden beds.
Both “Aphrodite” and “Rudolph” have proved to be very hardy and free flowering. Some specimens, in our garden, are at least 10 years old.
Leptospermum scoparium is a compact shrub usually two metres high by a similar width. Leaves are up to 20 millimetres long and aromatic when crushed.
The flowers are one centimetre in diameter, white and sometimes tinged with pink. They are profuse in spring and summer.
This tea tree will grow in heavy shade, has proved to be frost hardy and is suitable for hedges or screens.
Leptospermum scoparium is found in southern NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand. In New Zealand the species is known as Manuka.
The honey produced from the flowers has proved to have anti-bacterial properties and in New Zealand is marketed as Manuka honey.
Research is being undertaken, in Australia, to test the effectiveness of the honey.
A large plantation is being established in Western Australia using seed imported from New Zealand. Tests indicate that honey from our local tea trees is probably just as effective.
Tea trees not only have horticultural potential, but some species have probable medical benefits.