Kunzea ericoides

Detailed description

Trees up to 18 m. Trunk 1–4, 0.10–0.85 m d.b.h. Early bark brown to grey-brown, ± elongate, usually firmly attached, margins elongate sinuous, ± entire with scarcely any flaking; old bark similar. Branches slender, initially ascending soon spreading, apices often pendulous. Branchlets numerous, slender, glabrescent; indumentum sparse, deciduous, hairs divergent 0.02–0.05 mm long; leaves of branchlets densely crowded along stems. Leaves sessile, ± glabrous, except for the margins; lamina 4.0–25.0 × 0.5–1.8 mm, green to yellow-green, linear, linear-lanceolate, to narrowly lanceolate, straight or with upper ¼ weakly recurved, apex acute, sometimes cuspidate, base attenuate; lamina margins initially finely sericeous, glabrate or glabrous; hairs forming a fine, discontinuous band failing just short of lamina apex. Inflorescence a compact corymbiform to shortly elongate 3–15-flowered botryum up 60 mm long. Pherophylls foliose ± persistent, 1 per flower; lamina 3.0–7.8 × 0.9–1.4 mm, elliptic, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute, base attenuate. Pedicels 1.6–3.8 mm long at anthesis, usually glabrous. Flower buds pyriform to narrowly obconic, apex of mature buds weakly domed to flat, calyx lobes distant. Flowers 4.1–8.3 mm diam; hypanthium 1.4–3.2 × 1.9–4.1 mm; sharply obconic, apex terminating in 5 persistent suberect to spreading calyx lobes, glabrous (very rarely with basal ¼ finely , sparsely covered in minute hairs). Calyx lobes 5, suberect to spreading, 0.4–1.0 × 0.4–1.0 mm, orbicular, obtuse to broadly deltoid, red-green, pink or crimson, margins glabrous or finely ciliate. Receptacle green or pink at anthesis, darkening to crimson or dark magenta after fertilisation. Petals 5, 1.4–2.6 × 1.5–2.0 mm, white, orbicular, suborbicular to narrowly ovate, spreading, apex rounded, entire or very finely denticulate, oil glands usually not evident when fresh, ± colourless. Stamens 10–34 in 1–2 weakly defined whorls, filaments white; anthers dorsifixed, 0.35–0.48 × 0.16–0.24 mm, broadly ellipsoid; pollen white; anther connective gland prominent, pink or pinkish-orange when fresh, drying red to orange, ± spheroidal ± coarsely papillate. Ovary 4–5 locular, each with 16–24 ovules in two rows on each placental lobe. Style 1.5–2.2 mm long at anthesis; stigma capitate, about 1¼× the style diam., flat, cream or white, flushing pink after anthesis, surface very finely granular-papillate. Fruits rarely persistent, 1.9–3.4 × 1.8–3.9 mm, glabrous, dark green to reddish-green, maturing brown to grey-brown to grey-black, cupular, barrel-shaped, shortly cylindrical to hemispherical, calyx valves erect with the apices incurved, split concealed by dried, erect, free portion of hypanthium. Seeds 1.00–1.05 × 0.32–0.50 mm, semi-glossy, orange-brown to dark brown, obovoid, oblong, oblong-ellipsoid, or cylindrical and ± curved, surface coarsely reticulate.