General Description:

Cyathostemon is a genus of 12 species (some yet to be formally described)¹, all of which are endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. They are small shrubs and are closely related to the genera Astartea, Hypocalymma and Seorsus.

Cyathostemon ambiguus (previously Astartea ambigua) is small shrub up to 1 metre high.  The leaves are linear to narrowly obovate up to 80 mm long and 2 mm wide.  The white or pale pink, teatree-like flowers are about 10 mm in diameter and occur on small stalks from the leaf axils.  The main flowering is from winter to late spring but can extend into summer.

This is an attractive shrub which is not often seen in gardens possibly due to the wide availability of several similar plants.  It could be expected to be hardy in well drained soils in a sunny or partially shaded location.  Tip pruning from an early age will promote a bushy growth habit and more profuse flowering.  It would be expected to tolerate extended dry conditions once established.

Seed germinates well without pretreatment but is difficult to collect as it is released from the small seed capsules when ripe. Cuttings of firm, current season’s growth strike readily.

1. Trudgen M. E. and Rye B. L. (2014);  An update to the taxonomy of some Western Australian genera of Myrtaceae tribe Chamelaucieae. 2. Cyathostemon. Nuytsia 24: 7–16 (2014)