Genus Gaultheria Rank Species | ||
Similar Gaultheria antipoda, Gaultheria depressa, Gaultheria humifusa, Gaultheria ovatifolia, Gaultheria hispida | ||
Gaultheria appressa, the waxberry or white waxberry, is a shrub in the family Ericaceae. The species is endemic to Australia. It has an erect or spreading habit, growing to between 0.5 and 2 metres high, and has reddish brown hairs on its stems. Leaves are 3 to 8 cm long and 1 to 3 cm wide with small teeth along the edges. Flowers appear in groups of 3 to 11 in racemes in late spring to summer. The sepals become fleshy, white and enlarged during fruit formation. The fruits are between 7 and 10 mm in diameter.
The species occurs in woodland, forest, subalpine scrub and rainforest margins in New South Wales and Victoria. In the Greater Sydney region it is recorded in areas with an altitude of between 800 and 1000 metres and with an annual rainfall of 1000 mm.