White tea-tree

Description

Kunzea ericoides, commonly known as kānuka, kanuka, white tea-tree or burgan, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of Leptospermum and from its first formal description in 1832 until 1983 was known as Leptospermum ericoides. The flowers have five petals and up to 25 stamens which are mostly longer than the petals. Kunzea ericoides is a spreading shrub or tree, sometimes growing to a height of 18 m (60 ft) with bark which peels in long strips and young branches which tend to droop. The leaves are variable in shape from linear to narrow elliptic or lance-shaped, 6.5–25 mm (0.3–1 in) long and 1–5 mm (0.04–0.2 in) wide with a petiole up to 1 mm (0.04 in) long. The flowers are white or pale pink, crowded on side branches or in the axils of upper leaves. The floral cup is covered with soft, downy hairs and is on a pedicel 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long. There are five triangular sepals about 1 mm (0.04 in) long and five petals about 2 mm (0.08 in) long. There are up to 25 stamens which are 1–4 mm (0.04–0.2 in), mostly longer than the petals. Flowering occurs between October and February and is followed by fruit which is a cup-shaped capsule 2–4 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long and wide. The capsule usually opens to release its seed when mature. Kānuka was first formally described in 1832 by the French botanist Achille Richard who gave it the name Leptospermum ericoides from a specimen he collected in New Zealand. The description was published in Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe - Botanique. In 1983, Joy Thompson changed the name to Kunzea ericoides, describing the differences between Leptospermum and Kunzea in Telopea. The specific epithet (ericoides) refers to the similarity of the habit of this species to that of Erica arborea. The suffix -oides is a Latin ending meaning "likeness".The taxonomic revision of the Kunzea ericoides complex identified ten species endemic to New Zealand, seven of which were new at this time. A more recent analysis of the Kunzea complex observed little genetic variation and morphological distinction between the species, questioning the evidence for ten endemic Kunzea species and suggesting further revision.