''Kunzea calida'' is a 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 Queensland, Australia. It is a spreading shrub which has linear to lance-shaped leaves but which are rolled, making them appear cylindrical. The flowers are pinkish-purple and arranged in groups near the ends of the branches in September. It is only known in remote and rugged areas of the Mount Stewart Ranges near Homestead.

Description

''Kunzea calida'' is a spreading shrub which grows to a height of about and has flaky bark. The leaves are mostly arranged in opposite pairs along the branches and are linear to lance-shaped but mostly rolled so that they are long and less than wide on a short petiole. The leaves are covered with short, silky hairs. The flowers are pinkish-purple and arranged in rounded groups of three to twelve flowers on the ends of the branches. There are linear to lance-shaped

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s which are long and wide and paired bracteoles at the base of each flower. 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 long and hairy. The sepals are triangular, about long and hairy. 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 oblong to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, about long and there are 50 to 64

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 in several rows. Flowering in occurs September and is followed by fruit which an almost spherical capsule.

Taxonomy and naming

''Kunzea calida'' was first formally described in 1867 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

and the description was published in '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae''. 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 ...

(''calida'') is a Latin word meaning "warm" or "hot".

Distribution and habitat

The distribution of this kunzea is poorly understood but it occurs in open areas of the Mount Stewart Ranges.

Conservation

''Kunzea calida'' is classified as "Endangered" under the Queensland '' Nature Conservation Act 1992''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15367716 calida Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1867 Myrtales of Australia Endemic flora of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller