34 MELALEUCA. 
ftem is fhrubby, fix feet high, with lax-fpreading branches. 
Leaves numerous, horizontal, oppofite. crofting each other 
in pairs, elliptical, fmooth, about an inch long, with much 
of the habit of an Hypericum. Flowers on fnort lateral 
Scattered branches, many together, in denfe cylindrical 
mafles; calyx and germen fmooth, green, very glandular 
and refinous; petals green or reddifh, with refmous dots 
at the back. Filaments oppofite to them, the common 
bafe of each clufter three or four times the length of the 
petal, and of the fame colour, linear and narrow, termi¬ 
nating in a very large radiating tuft of long capillary crim- 
fon-filk-like threads, each bearing a fmall red anthera, 
with yellow pollen : thefe crimfon threads, combining all 
round into a clofe mafs, almoft concealing the reft of the 
flower, conftitute the chief beauty of the whole. It was 
miftaken for a Bankfia by one of the convidts who went 
to New South Wales, and who fent a very charadteriftic 
drawing to England of this plant, among fome of lei's ac¬ 
curacy. 
18. Melaleuca neriifolia, or oleander-leaved melaleuca : 
leaves oppofite, lanceolate, Jingle-ribbed ; flower-ftalks ax¬ 
illary, forked, nearly fmooth; ftamens fhorter than the 
corolla, fcarcely cohering. Native of New Holland ; and 
is faid to have been firfl raifed from feed by Mr. Barr of 
Ulington. This is Very different from all the reft of the 
prefent fedtion, having yellow flowers, on axillary forked 
ftalks, being next akin in habit to M. fuaveolens and lau- 
rina of the former divifion ; but its leaves are oppolite, 
lanceolate, about two inches long, and pale on the under 
fide. The ftamens are delcribed by Dr. Sims as colledted 
• into five bundles, Jhorter than the petals, but hardly co¬ 
hering ; Mr. Andrew’s delineates thefe bundles as oppo- 
Jite to the petals, with the filaments feparate almoft to the 
very bafe. 
Having referred Leptofpermum to this genus, we here 
fubjoin it, from Dr. Smith’s Botanical Charadters, in the 
third volume of the Linnsean Tranfadtions. 
Leptosfermum, [from the Gr. ?.ewV, flender, and 
cm^pu., feed.] A genus of the clafs icofandria, order 
monogynia. Generic effential charadter—Calyx five-cleft, 
half-fuperior; petals five, w’ith claws, longer than the fta¬ 
mens ;• ftigma capitate ; capfule four or five-celled; feeds 
angular. 
To this genus naturally belong many flirubs, which were 
referred by Dr. Solander to Philadelphus. Forfter con¬ 
founded with them under the name of Leptofpermum, ano¬ 
ther moft diftindt genus, the Metrojideros of Banks and So¬ 
lander. Gaertner firft feparated all thefe, and really under- 
ftood this genus, though he did not point-out the genuine 
effential charadter, the capitate ftigma, which, as well as 
the fhortnefs of the ftamens, clearly diftinguifhes it from 
Metrofideros. With Philadelphus it has no refemblance 
in habit, nor fcarcely any botanical charadters in common. 
Philadelphus is clearly and ftrikingly diftinguifhed by its 
more or lefs deeply quadrifid ltyle, and fimple ftigmas, 
without adverting to the broad bale of the petals, or the 
differences pointed out by Gaertner in the fruit. The 
younger Linnaeus and Schreber have confounded Lepto¬ 
fpermum, as well as Metrofideros, with Melaleuca, with 
which the latter only has any great natural affinity. Dr. 
George Forfter has fallen into the fame error in his Pro- 
dromus. Many of the fpecies are to be feen in the Eng- 
liffi gardens, and feveral have often flowered. They are 
rigid branched fhrubs, of rather humble, fometimes prof- 
trate, growth, aromatic when bruifed; their leaves alter¬ 
nate, fmall, entire, evergreen; flowers numerous, ufually 
folitary, white, often with a purple tinge about their or¬ 
gans of impregnation. The foliow-ing are all at prefent 
known: 
x. Leptofpermum fcoparium, New-Zealand tea, or com¬ 
mon South-fea myrtle: leaves ovate, fharp-pointed, ob- 
fcurely three-ribbed; calyx fmooth; its teeth membra¬ 
nous and coloured. Native of the coaft of New Zealand, 
where it was difeovered by fir Jofeph Banks and Dr. So¬ 
lander, and was thought by captain Cook to have been 
very ferviceable to the health of his crew. Its infufion, 
or tea, is pleafantly aromatic and fragrant, if not fuffered 
to ftand too long, in which cafe it becomes bitter. Mixed 
with an equal quantity of New-Zealand fpruce, it was 
found to make excellent and highly-palatable beer, of the 
moft falutary qualities. This plant, raifed at Kew from 
feed in 1772, is eafily kept in our green-houfes, and is 
covered in furnmer with elegant White bloffoms, whofe 
calyx-teeth, ftamens, and ftyle, are purplifh. In New 
Zealand it becomes a fmall tree. The leaves are nume¬ 
rous, fcattered, evergreen, fmall, nearly feffile, entire, 
fharp-pointed, rigid, finooth, dotted, paler beneath, more 
or lefs ovate, but varying extremely in length and breadth, 
fo that the two varieties indicated by authors are by no 
means diftintftly marked, and the gardeners make many 
more, which are equally evanefeent. The capfule is hard 
and woody, permanent on the old branches long after the 
feeds are difperfed, as in moft New-Holland plants of 
this family. 
2. Leptofpermum flavefeens, or yellowiffi South-fea 
myrtle -. leaves linear-lanceolate, obtufe, without lateral 
ribs; calyx fmooth; its teeth membranous, coloured, na¬ 
ked. Native of New South Wales. It was procured from 
thence for Kew garden by fir Jofeph Banks, about 1787. 
The branches are longer, and more flexible, than in the 
former; leaves narrower, longer, almoft linear, inclining 
to elliptic, and pointlefs. Petals white, often with a pur¬ 
ple tinge, turning yellowifh in drying. 
3. Leptofpermum attenuatum, or fine-branched South- 
fea myrtle: leaves linear, flightly lanceolate, acute, three- 
ribbed ; calyx clothed with filicy hairs; its teeth mem¬ 
branous, coloured, nearly naked. Native of New South 
Wales; fent to Kew by fir Jofeph Banks, in 1795. Its 
flender habit and narrow acute leaves diftinguifh this from 
both the former. The flowers moreover are fmaller, often 
two together, their ftalks, germen, and bafe of the calyx, 
clothed with filvery, filky, rather-fpreading hairs; petals 
and calyx-teeth white. It bloffoms from June to July. 
4. Leptofpermum grandifolium, or large-leaved South- 
fea myrtle: leaves lanceolate, fharp-pointed, obfcurely 
five-ribbed, downy beneath; calyx hairy; its teeth mem¬ 
branous and coloured. Sent from Port Jackfon, New 
South Wales, in 1795, by Dr. White, to Mr. Lambert. It 
is larger than any of the foregoing in all its parts; the 
leaves above an inch long, and near a quarter of an inch 
broad, lanceolate inclining to obovate, with a fmall pro¬ 
minent fharp point; fhining and fmooth above, except 
when young; paler, opaque, dotted, downy, and marked 
with two flight lateral ribs, on each fide the principal one, 
beneath. Flowers large, white, and handfome; feffile and 
folitary at the ends of the fhort lateral leafy branches; the 
back of their calyx-teeth, as well as the germen, is co¬ 
vered with long, white, fliaggy, hairs. 
5. Leptofpermum trinerve, or filky South-fea myrtle: 
leaves lanceolate inclining to obovate, three-ribbed; calyx 
filky; its teeth leafy, permanent. Native of New South 
Wales. This has much the habit of the laft; but is only 
about half the lize. 
6. Leptofpermum lanigerum, or hoary South-fea myrtle: 
leaves oblong or obovate, obfcurely three-ribbed, fome- 
what hairy ; calyx clothed with long fliaggy hairs. Native 
of Van Dieman’s Land, and of New South Wales. In the 
Tranl’. of the Linn. Soc. this was confounded with the 
laft, but Mr. Brown has corrected that miftake. The pre¬ 
fent fpecies has the germen and the whole calyx remark¬ 
ably hoary with long fpreading hairs, not filky with clofe 
or ere£t ones. The leaves when young are more or lefs 
hairy, and the young branches downy. The feales of the 
flowering-buds appear alfo to be larger and more perma¬ 
nent, imbricated, elliptical, and externally hairy. 
7. Leptofpermum parviflorum, or fmall-leaved South- 
fea myrtle: leaves obovate, imbricated, riblefs; young- 
branches and calyx clothed with fpreading hairs; teeth 
membranous. 
