Everything about Kunzea Ericoides totally explained
Kunzea ericoides (
Kānuka or
White tea-tree) is a tree which is
endemic to
New Zealand. Until 1983, Kānuka was classified as being in the genus
Leptospermum.
Endemic to New Zealand
Kānuka (or Mānuka as it was mostly known until the 1930's) is endemic to New Zealand. 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 m a.s.l. With its small but abundant flowers it can colour a whole hill side white, almost giving the appearance of snow cover. The wood is very hard and although not durable in the ground it's 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 1 m across.
Kakariki 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 . Mānuka and Kānuka are superficially similar species and they're often confused with one another -the easiest way to tell the difference between them is to feel the foliage - Kānuka leaves are soft while Mānuka leaves are prickly.
Related species in Australia
In Australia there are allied species known as Burgan, these have been confused in the past with New Zealand Kānuka but recent molecular and morphological studies show that none of the Australian plants are the same as the New Zealand species. Burgan species are mostly small shrubs (up to 5 m tall) with lignotubers and rhizomes, though two species in the complex K. peduncularis, and a very uncommon unnamed species found on the northern New South Wales border have the tree form (up to 15 m tall) more typical of the New Zealand species. Burgan comprises seven species (three of which have current names in Kunzea and four of which have yet to be formally described) and is native to
South Australia,
Victoria,
New South Wales and
Queensland. Kunzea leptospermoides, K. phylicoides, and a widespread unnamed species of Victoria and New South Wales have weedy tendencies and have proved a major problem in recently cleared or burned ground and in some farmland areas.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kunzea Ericoides'.
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