''Kunzea axillaris'' is a flowering plant in the myrtle family,

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is an erect shrub or tree with linear leaves and white flowers which are arranged singly in leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

s. It is only known from the ranges on the

north coast North Coast or Northcoast may refer to : Antigua and Barbuda * Major Division of North Coast, a census division in Saint John Parish Australia *New South Wales North Coast, a region Canada *The British Columbia Coast, primarily the communiti ...

Description

''Kunzea axillaris'' is an erect shrub or tree which grows to a height of about with its branches hairy when young. The leaves are linear in shape, long, less than wide and glabrous when mature. The leaves taper towards the petiole and have a pointed end. The flowers are crowded on side branches or in the

s of upper leaves on a stalk up to long. The

floral cup In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...

is glabrous, the sepal lobes are less than long and the

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are white, long. There are about thirty

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s which are long. Flowering occurs in January and the fruit are cup-shaped capsules which are long and about wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Kunzea axillaris'' was first formally described in 2016 by Hellmut R. Toelken and the description was published in '' Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''axillaris'') is a Latin word meaning "of an axil" referring to the flowers which appear singly in the leaf axils.

Distribution and habitat

This kunzea grows in wet sclerophyll forest on the ranges between Taree and Kempsey.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65941619 axillaris Flora of New South Wales Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 2016 Taxa named by Hellmut R. Toelken