''Kunzea dactylota'' 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 a spreading shrub with small, finger-shaped leaves and clusters of white flowers near the end of the branches. It grows at high altitudes on the Southern Tablelands of the state.

Description

''Kunzea dactylota'' is a spreading shrub which grows to a height of about with its branches hairy when young. The leaves are linear in shape, appearing cylindrical, long and less than wide with a petiole less than long. The flowers are arranged in rounded heads of about seven to ten near the ends of the branches which often continue to grow during flowering. 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 long and wide and smaller paired bracteoles at the base of the flowers. The floral cup is hairy and about long. The sepal lobes 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 white, egg-shaped to almost round and about long. There are about 40-50

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 about long. Flowering occurs between November and January.

Taxonomy and naming

''Kunzea dactylota'' was first formally described in 2016 by Hellmut R. Toelken from a specimen collected in the

Tinderry Range Tinderry is a locality in the Snowy Monaro Region, New South Wales, Australia. It lies to the east of Michelago Michelago is a village in the Monaro region of New South Wales, Australia. The village is in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council ...

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 ...

(''dactylota'') is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''daktylos'' meaning "finger", referring to the finger-like appearance of the leaves of this species.

Distribution and habitat

This kunzea grows in rocky places in heath with Tingiringi gum ('' Eucalyptus glaucescens'') and snow gum (''

Eucalyptus pauciflora ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'', commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between sev ...

''), mostly in the Tinderry Range.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65941622 dactylota Flora of New South Wales Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 2016 Endemic flora of Australia Taxa named by Hellmut R. Toelken