Gaudium semibaccatum

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Gaudium semibaccatum is a small, dense shrub that is endemic to eastern Australia. It usually grows to about 0.5 m tall, sometimes up to 2 m, and has thin, flaky bark with young stems that are hairy at first. The leaves are egg-shaped to narrow elliptical, 5–10 mm long and 1.5–2.5 mm wide, with a blunt tip and a short stalk.

The flowers are white or pink, mostly 5–10 mm wide, and appear singly or in pairs on short side shoots. There are many reddish-brown bracts at the base of the flower bud, but these mostly fall off before the flower opens. The floral cup is silky-hairy and 3–4 mm long; sepals are oblong and about 1.5–2 mm long. Petals are 3.5–7 mm long and stamens 1.5–2 mm long. Flowering mainly occurs from August to October. The fruit is a flat-topped, hairy capsule 4–6 mm wide and is shed soon after the seeds are released.

This plant grows in sandy soil in poorly drained coastal heath between Bundaberg in Queensland and Forster in New South Wales. It was first described in 1932 by Edwin Cheel as Leptospermum semibaccatum and has since been placed in the genus Gaudium.