Tasmania
has six species of Leptecophylla. These are all
erect shrubs with hard, usually sharp leaves. The species in
this genus can be hard to separate and identification
requires fertile material and some knowledge of plant
anatomy. Leptecophylla species have hermaphrodite
flowers (i.e. flowers with both male and female parts).
Interestingly, plants produce flowers with female flower
parts and either male fertile or male infertile parts. Fruit
sets on the plants with male infertile flowers. In some
species (e.g. L. oxycedrus) the difference between
male fertile and male infertile plants is obvious; the male
fertile flowers have large pollen producing anthers and a
longer corolla tube, while the male infertile flowers have
small anthers without pollen and a shorter corolla
tube. L. juniperina is now not considered as
part of the Tasmanian flora, and specimens previously
attributed to this species have been assigned to L.
oxycedrus.. L. divaricata (=Cyathodes
divaricata ) is a dry forest species in the east and L.
abietina (=Cyathodes abietina) is
a very thick leaved species that grows on exposed coasts in
the west and south.
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L. parvifolia
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University of Tasmania
