Baeckea frutescens

Baeckea is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. There are about 75 species, of which 70 are endemic to Australia; the others are distributed in New Caledonia and Southeast Asia. This Baeckea frutescens was on display at the Bonsai Clubs International Convention, Guangzhou, China.

Baeckea frutescens (Weeping Baeckea or Weeping Coast Myrtle) is a small evergreen tree, which is found throughout southern China, and it grows wild on arid soils in mountains and midlands. It has leaves that are opposite, small and very narrow, needle like, only about 6-15mm long. The leaves are very small, glandular, and when crushed give off a resinous aromatic fragrance. The flowers and leaves are harvested for their medicinal purposes and used to make tea. Flowers are solitary or borne in simple or compound inflorescences in the leaf axils. The flower has 5 sepals and 5 white, pink, or purple petals. The fruit is a dehiscent capsule. The trunk is short with several upright branches that spread out and droop at the ends as fine twigs.

Sources:

• ^{GLOBin MED: http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79068:baeckea-frutescens-l&catid=704:b}
• ^{Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baeckea}