Leptospermum myrsinoides

Leptospermum myrsinoides, the heath tea-tree or silky tea-tree, is a wiry, much-branched shrub in the Myrtaceae endemic to southeastern Australia, where it occurs in coastal heath, dry sclerophyll forest, and sand-plain communities of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. It typically grows 0.5-2 m tall with an open, somewhat untidy habit and reddish-brown, fibrous bark on older stems. The crowded leaves are alternate, narrowly obovate to elliptic, 4-12 mm long, with a soft, silky pubescence when young that gives the foliage a slightly silvery sheen. Solitary, axillary flowers are borne profusely along the branches from late winter to early summer; each is 8-12 mm across with five spreading, broadly obovate petals that are usually white but range to pale pink, surrounding a central disc and numerous short stamens. Fruits are small, woody, persistent capsules splitting into 5 valves to release fine seed.