Gaudium blakelyi is a species of shrub that is endemic to rocky clifftops near Lithgow in New South Wales. It has densely silky young stems, egg-shaped to elliptical leaves and white or pink flowers.
| Gaudium blakelyi | |
|---|---|
| |
| In the Wolgan Valley | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Gaudium |
| Species: | G. blakelyi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Gaudium blakelyi | |
| |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Description
editGaudium blakelyi is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and has closely adhering flakes of bark that is shed in fibrous strips. Young stems are densely hairy at first. The leaves are broadly elliptical to egg-shaped, 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) wide on a short petiole. The flowers are borne singly or in groups of up to four, usually in leaf axils and are about 7 mm (0.28 in) in diameter on a pedicel 5 mm (0.20 in) or more long. The floral cup is usually densely hairy, about 2 mm (0.079 in) long. The sepals are triangular, 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) long and remain attached as the fruit develops. The petals are 2–2.5 mm (0.079–0.098 in) long and white or pink and the stamens are about 1 mm (0.039 in) long. Flowering occurs from November to December and the fruit is a woody capsule 2–3.5 mm (0.079–0.138 in) in diameter on a pedicel 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
editThis species was first formally described in 1989 by Joy Thompson in the journal Telopea.[3][4] In 2023, Peter Gordon Wilson transferred the species to the genus Gaudium as G. blakelyi in the journal Taxon.[1][5] The specific epithet (blakelyi) honours William Blakely who wrote an unpublished description of this species.[3]
Distribution and habitat
editThis tea-tree grows on rocky clifftops in heath near Lithgow.[3][2]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Gaudium blakelyi". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Gaudium blakelyi". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ a b c d Thompson, Joy (1989). "A revision of the genus Leptospermum (Myrtaceae)". Telopea. 3 (3): 378–379.
- ^ "Leptospermum blakelyi". APNI. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Wilson, Peter G.; Heslewood, Margaret M. (2023). "Revised taxonomy of the tribe Leptospermeae (Myrtaceae) based on morphological and DNA data". Taxon. 72 (3): 550–571. doi:10.1002/tax.12892. Retrieved 28 July 2024.