''Leptospermum recurvum'' is a species of shrub or tree that is native to

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( ms, Gunung Kinabalu, Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran or Nulu Nabalu'') is the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. With an elevation of , it is third-highest peak of an island on Earth, and 20th most prominent mountain in the worl ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

and to Sulawesi. It has pale, flaky bark, broadly elliptical to almost round leaves, white flowers about wide and fruit that tend to remain on the plant for a year or two.

Description

''Leptospermum recurvum'' is sometimes a prostrate shrub, sometimes a tree to or more in height. It has thin, pale, flaky bark and young stems that have a broad flange near the leaf bases. The leaves are broadly elliptical to egg-shaped or almost round with their edges strongly curved downwards, mostly long and wide, and lack a petiole. The upper surface of the leaves is mostly glossy and the lower surface usually silky-hairy at first. The flowers are white, about wide and arranged singly on short side shoots. There are broad reddish brown bracts at the base of the flower buds that mostly remain at the base of the open flowers. The floral cup is long, tapering to a short pedicel. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s are long and almost hemispherical, the

petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...

s are about long and the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s about long. Flowering probably occurs in most months. The fruit is a capsule wide and that tends to remain on the plant for a few years.

Taxonomy and naming

''Leptospermum recurvum'' was first formally described in 1852 by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

in William Jackson Hooker's book, ''

Icones Plantarum ''Icones Plantarum'' is an extensive series of published volumes of botanical illustration, initiated by Sir William Jackson Hooker. The Latin name of the work means "Illustrations of Plants". The illustrations are drawn from herbarium specimens ...

''. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimens were collected from "Kina Balu" where the species was recorded as being "abundant, from , whitening the top of the mountain".

Distribution and habitat

''Leptospermum recurvum'' grows in crevices between rocks at high elevations on Mount Kinabalu.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q768910 recurvum Flora of Sabah Flora of Sulawesi Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker Plants described in 1852 Flora of Mount Kinabalu Alpine flora