Species profile—Leptospermum venustum
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Myrtaceae → Leptospermum venustum
Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Myrtaceae
- Scientific name
- Leptospermum venustum A.R.Bean
- WildNet taxon ID
- 8380
- Superseded by
- Gaudium venustum (09/08/2023)
- Conservation significant
- No
- Confidential
- No
- Endemicity
- Exotic
- Pest status
- Nil
- Description
- Leptospermum venustum is a spreading shrub growing 1.5 to 2.5 m high, with arching branches; the bark is rough, grey, scaly, closely adhering and persistent throughout. The branchlets have spreading hairs up to 2 mm long, stem flanges are absent. The leaves are alternate, sessile or with a petiole up to 1mm long, they are concolourous, green, broadly elliptical, 6 to 13 mm by 3 to 4 mm and are three to five veined; oil glands are numerous and conspicuous; the leaf bases are wedge shaped, the apex is acute; the young leaves have long marginal hairs and are glabrescent.
The inflorescence consists of single flowers, borne on short side-branches. The floral bracts are red-brown, glabrous, completely enclosing the mature buds, shed just prior to anthesis. The flowers are 18 to 25 mm in diameter, the pedicels are absent or very short, the hypanthium is silky pubescent, 3 to 4 mm long; the sepals are triangular and are pubescent; the petals are deep pink fading to pale pink, orbicular and glabrous. There are 30 to 40 stamens, all about the same length, the anthers are parallel, opening by narrow slits with conspicuous glands. The fruits are fleshy, succulent when fresh, globular-truncate, 5 (6) locular, 6 to 7 mm by 7 to 8 mm, when dried brown and wrinkled about 5 by 6 mm. The sepals are persistent. The seeds dark brown, obovoid, conspicuously reticulate, about 1.2 by 0.6 mm. The unfertilised seeds are pale yellow and linear (Bean, 1992).
Leptospermum venustum is closely related to L. semibaccatum; both have rather fleshy fruits and silky-hairy hypanthia. L. venustum differs from that species by its broader leaves, persistently hairy branchlets, larger flowers and fruits, and longer floral hypanthium (Bean, 1992). - Map
- View Map
- Distribution
- Leptospermum venustum is confined to a small area west of Eidsvold (Queensland Herbarium, 2012)
- Distributional limits
- -25.4234164, 150.9927464
-25.4234164, 150.9927465 - Range derivation
- Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
- Habitat
- Leptospermum venustum is confined to a relatively small area west of Eidsvold where it grows on granitic hillsides and slopes, or beside small watercourses. It grows in eucalypt woodland often dominated by Corymbia petalophylla or Eucalyptus baileyana. On moister sites, Lophostemon suaveolens may be present (Bean, 1992).
- Reproduction
- Leptospermum venustum flowers from July to October (Bean, 1992).
- Threatening processes
- There are no Herbarium specimens from National Parks or protected areas.
- Status notes
- Leptospermum venustum is listed as Vulnerable under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.
- Management recommendations
- There are no management recommendations in the literature.
- Notes
- Occurs in the following Queensland pastoral district: Burnett.
- References
- Bean, A.R. (1992). The genus Leptospermum Forst. et Forst.f. (Myrtaceae) in Northern Australia and Malesia. Austrobaileya 3 (4): 649-650.
Queensland Herbarium (2012). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 19/01/2012. - Profile author
- Ronald Booth (03/05/2012)
Other resources
Data source
This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=8380.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
