Australian myrtle

Leptospermum laevigatum, the coast teatree (now sometimes treated as Gaudium laevigatum), is a bushy evergreen shrub or small tree in the Myrtaceae family growing 1.5-6 m tall, native to the sandy coastal heathlands and dunes of southeastern Australia from southern Queensland through New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania to South Australia. It develops a gnarled, often leaning trunk with thin, fibrous, papery bark that peels in long strips, and a dense, spreading, wind-pruned canopy. The greyish-green, alternately arranged leaves are narrowly obovate to elliptic, 15-30 mm long and 4-8 mm wide, with a pointed apex and a faintly glaucous bloom. Solitary or paired flowers 15-20 mm across appear from late winter to spring, with five rounded white petals, a fringed cup-shaped hypanthium and numerous short stamens. The fruit is a flat-topped, woody capsule 7-8 mm wide that releases minute seeds before falling from the plant. The species is highly salt-tolerant and is widely planted for coastal stabilization, but has become invasive in many regions including parts of South Africa, California and southeastern Australia.