Tea tree

Victorian tea tree

Gaudium laevigatum

Quick facts

Status
Permitted s11
Life Cycle
Perennial
Growth Form
Tree/shrub
Origin
Eastern Australia
Flowers
White
Dispersal
Wind, soil movement
Seed longevity
Short

Names

Other Common Names: Coast tea tree, Australian tea tree, tea-tree

Synonyms: Leptospermum laevigatum

Form and function

A dense shrub to small tree up to 5m tall, common throughout the south-west of Western Australia. A prolific seeder after dense arrays of flowers.

Shrub - DBCA

Flowers

•    White flowers 15-20 mm in diameter
•    Often occur in pairs
•    Sepals are triangular, about 1.5 to 2 mm long and mostly smooth
•    Petals are 5 to 8 mm long
•    Numerous stamens surrounding the central stigma
•    Stamens are 1.5 to 2.5 mm long
•    Ovary with 6 to 11 chambers
 

Flowers

Leaves

•    Grey green
•    Narrowly obovate to obovate (15-30 mm long and 5-10 mm wide)
•    Flat and smooth
•    Tips blunt with a small point that is often folded inward
•    Base tapering into a short, flattened leaf stalk
 

Leaves

Fruits

  • Small, non woody capsules (6-8 mm in diameter)
  • Obconical to flat topped shape
  • Smooth to slightly wrinkled surface
  • Valves slightly protruding but forming a flat top
  • Fruits are deciduous, sometimes slow to fall
  • Each capsule contains many seeds (about 2 mm long and often winged)
  • Seeds are released under damaged and stressed conditions, such as bushfire and herbicides application. 

 

Fruits

Roots

  • Extensive root system

Habitat

High tolerance to drought. Grown in coastal dunes environment, preferring moist to dry moderately fertile sandy to light clay loam that is slightly acidic to neutral.

Plant near beach

May be confused with...

Similar native species:  Similar to several eastern Australian native tea trees.

How does it spread?

Seeds are spread by wind, vehicle access, soil movement water and garden refuse. Regerminate from plants or base occasionally

Why is it a weed?

•    Commonly forms monospecific stands that supress the growth and regeneration of native species
•    Has the potential to change ecosystem structure and function
•    Ability to invade bushland in good condition

Victorian tea tree is also a invasive weed in South Africa.
 

History

Introduced to revegetate and stabilise degraded dune systems and to act as coastal windbreaks.

How to control

Arum Lily

Physical

Arum Lily

Chemical

Arum Lily

Managerial

Do not treat Victorian tea tree while plants are fruiting. Stress from herbicide application or physical damage will trigger the fruits to release seed.

Physical

Manual removal is only effective for seedlings and small trees. Bigger plants can be cut with a hand saw or chainsaw, making sure to cut down close to the ground as possible and remove the cut trees from the site to prevent the resprout from the base. Follow up by monitoring the site periodically and remove the seedlings as necessary.  

Chemical

Seedlings and small trees

Foliar spray with 1-2% Glyphosate (360 g/L) or 1% solution of 300 g/L Triclopyr + 100 g/L Picloram + 8 g/L Aminopyralid. A penetrant should be used and spray until leaves are just wet. Spray regrowth the following year.

Large trees (>5cm trunk diameter)

Cut stumps 50cm from the ground and Basal bark using Triclopyr (600g/L) or 240 g/L Triclopyr + 120 g/L Picloram at the rate of 1L/60L diesel to freshly cut stump surfaces and sides of trunks.  Alternatively cut stump and paint with 50% solution of Glyphosate (360g/L).

Large stands

A long acting soil herbicide could applied in areas where follow-up is difficult to organise.  Apply 200 g/kg Tebuthiuron with the rate of 1-2 g/m2 by hand uniformly prior to winter rainfall once per year. Do not apply in areas where water run off is expected or in catchment areas.

Managerial

Fire may kill adult plants, but prolific germination is expected post-fire.

Further
reading

external link PER96570 - Glyphosate
external link PER96642 – Picloram, Triclopyr, Fluroxypyr
external link PER96652 – Tebuthiuron

Weed Distribution Map

LSID number: [2905839] | full LSID: [https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2905839] | field_lsid: [] | taxon: [Leptospermum laevigatum]

ALA Reference

References

  • Australian Plants Society (2020) Gaudium laviegatum (syn. Leptospermum laevigatum) Coast Tea Tree. Accessed 9/8/2026
  • Denmark Weed Action Group (2012) Victorian Tea Tree.
  • Department of Primary Industries and Regions (2021) Coastal tea-tree
  • Lam, A., & Etten, E. V. (2002) Invasion of indigenous vegetation in south-western Australia by Leptospermum laevigatum (Myrtaceae). Thirteenth Australian Weeds Conference. https://caws.org.nz/old-site/awc/2002/awc200215451.pdf
  • Messina, A. (2024) Gaudium laevigatum (Gaertn.). VicFlora Flora of Victoria.
  • Moore, J., & Wheeler, J. (2008) Southern weeds and their control. Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia.
  • Western Australian Herbarium (1998–) Florabase—the Western Australian flora. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions

Life Cycle

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Notes
Germination
Active growth
Active growth all year
Flowering
Fruiting
Fruits may be present all year
Regularly or most commonly
Occasionally, given suitable conditions

Management

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Notes
Physical
Chemcial
Do not treat while fruiting
Optimal
Potentially, but conditionally dependent
Last updated: October 2026