Baeckea frutescens is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is native to eastern Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia. It is a shrub with arching branches, linear leaves and white flowers with seven to thirteen stamens.
Baeckea frutescens is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has arching branches. Its leaves are linear and often clustered on short side-branches, long and about wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils and are wide on a pedicel long. The five sepals are rounded-triangular, the five petals white, more or less round and long, and there are seven to thirteen stamens. Flowering mainly occurs in summer and the fruit is a capsule about in diameter.[1] [2] [3]
Baeckea frutescens was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum.[4] [5] The specific epithet (frutescens) means "becoming bushy or shrubby".[6]
This baeckea grows in heath and open grassland from south-east China to eastern Australia. In Australia it grows in near-coastal areas as far south as Port Macquarie.
This species' tiny leaves and branches make it a popular subject of bonsai.[7]