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Leptospermum rupestre is commonly called the ‘Mountain tea-tree’ and is endemic the alpine and subalpine areas of Tasmania. It is part of the family Myrtaceae, which also contains other genus such as: Eucalyptus, Melaluca, Baeckea, Kunzea and Thryptomene. The genus Leptospermum is characterised by showy petals, usually 5, relatively short stamens and usually solitary capsules.



Description:
In alpine areas Leptospermum rupestre is often prostrate and spreads across boulders, whereas in subalpine areas it can be a large, erect shrub. Capsules usually have four to six valves, they are woody when mature and are approximately 5mm in diameter. The young capsules are glabrous or have only a few long hairs (otherwise not conspicuously hairy). Their leaves are slightly pointed and not as pungent as other species in the family.

Habitat:
Leptospermum rupestre is endemic to Tasmania, and is found in subalpine and alpine areas ranging from altitudes of approximately 900 to 1250 metres. They can be found in stony clay, dolerite soils as well as peat on quartzite sand soils. Alpine areas are typically exposed to low temperatures and high light intensities. This is problematic as light energy use is sensitive to low temperatures. Also, the amount of light a single leaf is exposed to exceeds the required amount for photosynthesis; this in turn causes a decrease in efficiency of photosynthesis called photoinhibition. Therefore plants living at these altitudes need to be specially adapted to efficiently function under these conditions.

Adaptations to living at altitude:
There are several strategies for evergreen alpine species to cope with the high light intensity and low temperatures associated with living at altitude. Leptospermum rupestre has a strategy of having anthocyanins in the epidermis of their leaves, these are red pigments that will reflect light with wavelengths of 630-690nm (nano metres), thus reducing the amount of light the leaf is exposed to. L. rupestre also adjusts the amount of chlorophyll within their leaves, this reduces the amount of photosynthetic material available to be damaged by the intense light.