turpentine, turpentine tree, yanderra
NZ Myrtaceae Key - Online edition
Syncarpia glomulifera (Sm.) Nied.
Australia: coastal Queensland to New South Wales.
In New Zealand cultivated as a landscape tree of parks and gardens.
Scattered records from the main centres in the North Island and from Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand.
Tree to 50 m tall.
Bark fibrous to stringy, furrowed, greyish. Branchlets densely hairy, becoming hairless with age.
Adult leaves alternate or opposite along stems, whorls of four at the tips of branches, 70–110 mm long, 25–45 mm wide, blade ovate to elliptic, flat, upper surface dull green, lower surface velvety white, side-veins at ± 45° to midrib, oil glands present; tips pointed; base tapering to stalk (attenuate); leaf stalk 10–20 mm long. Leaves aromatic when rubbed.
Flower clusters terminal on branches. Flowers white, in clusters of 7, fused at the base to form a globular head. Mature buds fused in sevens. Mature flowers with 4–5 oval petals, 5–8 mm long, and 4–5 persistent sepals. Stamens numerous, white, longer than petals. Main flowering period: spring to summer.
Two subspecies of S. glomulifera are recognised, and both occur in New Zealand: The lower leaf surface is either covered by fine hairs in S. glomulifera subsp. glomulifera or smooth in S. glomulifera subsp. glabra.
Syncarpia is a genus of three species endemic to Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. Only S. glomulifera is known to be present in New Zealand.