- Kunzea ericoides
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Kānuka 
Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Myrtales Family: Myrtaceae Genus: Kunzea Species: K. ericoides Binomial name Kunzea ericoides
(A.Rich.) Joy Thomps.Kunzea ericoides (Kānuka, White tea-tree or Burgan)[1] is a tree or shrub which is restricted to Australia and New Zealand. Until 1983, Kānuka was classified as being in the genus Leptospermum.
Contents
Nomenclature and taxonomy
Distribution and ecology
Kānuka (or mānuka, as it was mostly known until the 1930s) occurs in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia it occurs in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
It is widespread particularly in coastal scrub and colonizing land recovering after a fire or reverting to a natural state after being used for agriculture. However it has been recorded growing to altitudes of 2000 metres above sea level. With its small but abundant flowers it can colour a whole hillside white, almost giving the appearance of snow cover. The wood is very hard and although not durable in the ground it is used for wharf piles and tool handles. It is particularly popular as firewood, burning with a great heat.
In New Zealand, kānuka can grow up to 30 metres high with a trunk up to one metre across. Kākāriki parakeets (Cyanoramphus) use leaves and bark of kānuka and the related mānuka tea trees to rid themselves of parasites. Apart from ingesting the material, they also chew it, mix it with preen gland oil and apply it to their feathers.[2] Mānuka and kānuka are superficially similar species and they are often confused with one another -the easiest way to tell the difference between them is to feel the foliage, kānuka leaves being soft, while mānuka leaves are prickly.[3] K. ericoides may occur in the understory of certain rimu/nothofagus forests in the South Island. Typical associate understory species may include Crown Fern, Blechnum discolor and Cyathodes fasciculata.[4]
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Showing foliage and seedpods. Pinched between fingers for scale
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Young plant
Toxicology
Prostrate Kānuka
A variety of kānuka, the Prostrate kānuka, Kunzea ericoides var. microflora is one of the few plants that can survive hot grounds in the immediate surroundings of geothermal features like fumaroles and craters, for instance at "Craters of the Moon" (Karapiti), a geothermal area close to Taupo, New Zealand.[5]
See also
References
- John Dawson and Rob Lucas. 2000. Nature guide to the New Zealand forest, Godwit Publishing
- David R. Given. 1980. Vegetation on heated soils at Karapiti, central North Island, New Zealand, and its relation to ground temperature in New Zealand Journal of Botany, vol. 18: 1-13
- C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Crown Fern: Blechnum discolor, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
- PlantNET: New South Wales Flora Online: Kunzea ericoides
Footnotes
- ^ Kānuka is a Māori-language word borrowed into New Zealand English. Other Māori language names include mānuka, mānuka-rauriki (lit, 'small-leaved mānuka), māru, mānuoea and rāwiri.
- ^ Terry Greene. 1989. Antiparasitic behaviour in New Zealand parakeets ("Cyanoramphus" species). Notornis 36(4): 322–323. PDF fulltext
- ^ John Dawson and Rob Lucas. 2000
- ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009
- ^ David R. Given. 1980
Categories:- Trees of New Zealand
- Trees of mild maritime climate
- Kunzea
- Flora of Queensland
- Flora of Victoria (Australia)
- Flora of New South Wales
- Flora of South Australia
- Trees of Australia
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