Leptospermum oligandrum

Leptospermum oligandrum is a species of erect, spreading shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has broadly egg-shaped to wedge-shaped leaves, white flowers arranged singly or in groups of up to three on the ends of short side branches and fruit that fall from the plant shortly after the seeds are released.

Description
Leptospermum oligandrum is an erect spreading shrub that grows to a height of 0.4–3 m and has thin stringy or flaky bark on the older stems. The young stems are silky-hairy at first, later glabrous. The leaves are broadly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base or wedge-shaped, 3–10 mm long and 2–4 mm wide tapering to a petiole less than 1 mm long. The flowers are white, 3–10 mm wide and arranged singly or in groups of up to three on short, leafy side shoots. The flower buds have egg-shaped, reddish brown bracts and bracteoles at the base but that usually fall off well before the flower opens. The floral cup is 2–3 mm or more long on a thin pedicel 2–5 mm long. The sepals are 1–1.5 mm long and are not differentiated from the floral cup. The petals are 1.5–3 mm long and the stamens about 1 mm long. Flowering mainly occurs from September to December and the fruit is a capsule 2–4 mm long with the remnants of the sepals attached but that falls from the plant when the seeds mature.

Taxonomy and naming
Leptospermum oligandrum was first formally described in 1852 by Nikolai Turczaninow in the Bulletin de la Classe Physico-Mathématique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg from material collected by James Drummond. The specific epithet (oligandrum) is derived from ancient Greek words oligos (ὀλίγος), meaning 'few' and anēr, genitive andros (ἀνήρ, genitive ἀνδρός), meaning 'male', referring to the few stamens in the flowers.

Distribution and habitat
This tea-tree usually grows in heath or scrub and is widespread in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions of Western Australia.

Conservation status
This species is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.