''Gaudium venustum'' is a species of spreading shrub that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Queensland. It has thin, rough, scaly bark, broadly elliptical leaves, deep pink flowers borne singly on side shoots and fruit that is fleshy and succulent at first.

Description

''Gaudium venustum'' is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of and has arching branches. The bark is thin, rough, grey and scaly and the young stems are covered with spreading hairs. The leaves are broadly elliptical, the same shade of green on both sides, long and wide and

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

or on a petiole up to long. The flowers are borne singly on short side branches and are deep pink, fading to light pink and wide. The

floral cup In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...

is covered with silky hairs, long and

or on a very short

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

, and the sepals are triangular and covered with soft hairs. The

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

s are more or less round and there are thirty to forty

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 filame ...

s. The fruit is a capsule that is fleshy and succulent at first, long and wide with the remains of the sepals attached.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1992 by

Anthony Bean Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants. Care ...

who gave it the name ''Leptospermum venustum'' in the journal '' Austrobaileya''. In 2023,

Peter Gordon Wilson Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

transferred the species to the genus ''Gaudium'' as ''G. trinervium'' in the journal ''

Taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''venustum'') refers to "its very beautiful floral display".

Distribution and habitat

This tea-tree grows on hills and slopes, sometimes near small streams in woodland and is restricted to a small area west of Eidsvold.

Conservation status

This species is classified as "vulnerable" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15368318 venustum Myrtales of Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1992