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Leptospermum spectabile; photograph Melburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SAMelburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Leptospermum spectabile Joy Thomps.

Myrtaceae · New South Wales

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Leptospermum spectabile Joy Thomps.: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, J.Thomps.

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Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
0.8°C
Record low -2.4 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
27°C
Jan at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
940mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
17–42DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes April to October (October to April at the habitat), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Leptospermum spectabile is a species of shrub that is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It has thin bark, narrow elliptic leaves, dark red flowers arranged singly on short side shoots and relatively large fruit.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Leptospermum spectabile", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Leptospermum

Leptospermum is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the myrtle family Myrtaceae commonly known as tea trees, although this name is sometimes also used for some species of Melaleuca. Most species are endemic to Australia, with the greatest diversity in the south of the continent, but some are native to other parts of the world, including New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Leptospermums all have five conspicuous petals and five groups of stamens which alternate with the petals. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Leptospermum", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (682 mm of 948 mm) falls in October to April, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 18.5 °C against a yearly mean of 15.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: April to October.

Rain

948 mm in the median year at the habitat, 682 mm of it October to April. Wettest month February at 137 mm, driest month July at 42 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 922 mm to 1,040 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 940 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 948 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 17 to 42 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 42).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 0.8 °C, the absolute minimum -2.4 °C, 54 frost nights in 44 years, 1.2 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 38.1 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 4.9 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 4.3 °C to 5.6 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 27.3 °C in January (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 0.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 61% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -4 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Leptospermum spectabile through the yearWarmest month January, mean daily high 27 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 4.9 °C; 948 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost38.1° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-2.4° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 17–42RH 55–61%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 7 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C27 / 27–2826 / 25–2624 / 23–2420 / 20–2117 / 17–1814 / 14–1614 / 13–1516 / 15–1719 / 18–2022 / 21–2324 / 23–2426 / 26–27
Night °C16 / 16–1716 / 16–1714 / 14–1511 / 11–128 / 8–96 / 6–75 / 4–66 / 5–78 / 7–910 / 10–1113 / 12–1315 / 14–16
Rain mm105 / 98–118137 / 132–15596 / 93–11280 / 77–8958 / 58–6563 / 61–6742 / 40–4255 / 54–6048 / 47–5178 / 76–8595 / 92–10491 / 86–97
DLI40 / 40–4034 / 34–3530 / 30–3024 / 24–2419 / 18–1917 / 16–1718 / 18–1925 / 24–2532 / 31–3237 / 37–3739 / 39–4042 / 41–42
RH %59 / 59–6061 / 61–6261606160 / 60–615956 / 56–5755 / 55–56555758 / 57–58
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 7 grid cells holding the 12 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2464:6610 (-33.225, 150.525). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -2.4 °C, 1st-percentile night 0.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 38.1 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 7 distinct grid cells holding 12 of the 12 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2464:6610 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -33.00_150.625, lapse-corrected -4 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 396 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeNew South Wales · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-33.25, 150.533 · in the densest population, 13 records (100% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub” · “subtropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 13 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 12 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 12 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1 km away. 1 in-range record is placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stays on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 11291477 (Leptospermum spectabile JoyThomps.): Kew's file holds it as Leptospermum spectabile Joy Thomps. (accepted); 0 records, from GBIF's search API on the day of the build.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 13 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Acacia gordonii Acacia gordonii Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Lukas ClewsEucalyptus oblonga Eucalyptus oblonga Narrow-leaf stringybark Photo: CC BY, Petra HollandAnemone decapetala Anemone decapetala Southern Anemone Photo: CC BY, Gabriela CartesSpyridium burragorang Spyridium burragorang Rhamnaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, NadiatalentEucalyptus michaeliana Eucalyptus michaeliana Hillgrove gum Photo: CC BY, Lucas ChristofidesSarcochilus falcatus Sarcochilus falcatus Orange Blossom Orchid Photo: CC BY, Liam southwell

Other Leptospermum 21 in the reference

Leptospermum continentale Leptospermum continentale Prickly tea-tree Photo: CC BY-SA, Greg TasneyLeptospermum grandiflorum Leptospermum grandiflorum Myrtaceae Photo: CC BY, Stella FishLeptospermum grandifolium Leptospermum grandifolium Tea Tree Bairne Photo: CC BY, Petra HollandLeptospermum juniperinum Leptospermum juniperinum Prickly teatree Photo: CC BY, Bryce Watts-ParkerLeptospermum laevigatum Leptospermum laevigatum Australian teatree Photo: CC BY-SA, Jack KlemLeptospermum lanigerum Leptospermum lanigerum Woolly Tea-tree Photo: CC BY, Stella FishLeptospermum liversidgei Leptospermum liversidgei Lemon-scented Tea-tree Photo: CC0, author not statedLeptospermum macrocarpum Leptospermum macrocarpum Large-fruited tea tree Photo: CC BY, T. HammerLeptospermum morrisonii Leptospermum morrisonii Large-leaf yellow teatree Photo: CC BY, Guy TaseskiLeptospermum myrtifolium Leptospermum myrtifolium Myrtle Teatree Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony EalesLeptospermum nitidum Leptospermum nitidum Shining Tea-tree Photo: CC0, author not statedLeptospermum obovatum Leptospermum obovatum River teatree Photo: CC BY, Shelomi Doyle all 22 ›

Names & registers

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipedia

The record

Family
Myrtaceae
Described by
Joy Thomps.
Native to
New South Wales
Wild records
13 in range · 12 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF's key 3181916 is Leptospermum spectabile J.Thomps.; Kew accepts Leptospermum spectabile Joy Thomps., and the name is cited as Kew accepts it; its synonyms and common names are read from GBIF's Leptospermum spectabile JoyThomps. (11291477) too
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-220 read from GBIF's Leptospermum spectabile JoyThomps. (11291477)
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 0 records of GBIF's key 11291477, Leptospermum spectabile JoyThomps. (Kew's file holds it as Leptospermum spectabile Joy Thomps. (accepted)): GBIF occurrence search API; 3 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (2 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 1 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -33.00_150.625, lapse-corrected -4 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 6 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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