Flora of New Zealand Series

Small shrub to c. 2 m tall; branches erect and rigid, densely hairy. Lvs crowded, 10-12 mm long, broad-ovate, amplexicaul, concave, usually recurved; base subcordate to cordate; apex slender and pungent; petiole very short and appressed to stem. Pedicels very short, obscured by the many imbricate, lanceolate-acuminate bracts c. 5 mm long. Sepals similar to bracts and c. = corolla tube. Corolla pale mauve or pinkish; tube 4-5 mm long, sub-cylindric; lobes 3-4 mm long, acute or short-acuminate, spreading. Stamens inserted at or near mouth of tube; anthers subsessile, c. 1.5 mm long, oblong. Style slightly > anthers. Disc scales much < ribbed ovary. Capsule c. 1.5 mm long, subglobose.

N.: S. Auckland.

N.S.W. 1855

Leptospermum scrub.

E. purpurascens was first recorded by Hooker, J. D., Fl. N.Z. (1855), from Papakura, and has persisted in the area since that time. It was probably introduced for cultivation.