Broom tea-tree

Leptospermum scoparium is an evergreen shrub or small tree of the Myrtaceae family, typically growing 2 to 5 metres tall, occasionally reaching 10 metres, with a densely branched habit and reddish-brown, papery bark that peels in long strips. The small, alternate, sessile leaves are narrowly lanceolate to ovate, 7 to 20 millimetres long and 2 to 6 millimetres wide, stiff, sharply pointed and strongly aromatic when crushed, releasing a characteristic spicy, oily fragrance. Solitary five-petalled flowers, 8 to 15 millimetres across, are borne profusely along the branches in spring and summer; petals are usually white but pink and red forms occur, surrounding a cup-shaped hypanthium and numerous short stamens. The fruit is a small, woody, persistent five-valved capsule about 5 to 7 millimetres in diameter that releases tiny seeds when mature. Native to New Zealand and southeastern Australia, the species colonises regenerating scrub, heathland, forest margins and disturbed ground over a wide range of soils.