''Kunzea linearis'', also known by the Maori name rawiri manuka, 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 New Zealand. It is a densely-foliaged shrub or small tree, characterised by very narrow leaves and clusters of small white flowers with five petals and a large number of

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 longer than the petals. It grows in the north of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

and is the most distinctive of the New Zealand kunzeas.

Description

''Kunzea linearis'' is a densely-branched shrub or tree which usually grows to a height of up to . It is densely branched, usually forming a rounded canopy up to in diameter. The leaves are densely crowded along the branches, especially near the ends and are hairy, about long, wide and lack a petiole. The flowers are arranged in more or less cylindrical groups of between three and forty, and the individual flowers are in diameter. 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, in diameter, cup-shaped or barrel-shaped and usually has a covering of silvery white hairs. There are five sepal lobes long on the rim of the floral cup. The five or six

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, cream-coloured or pale pink, egg-shaped to almost round, about long and wide and there are between 40 and 50 cream coloured

s which are longer than the petals. Flowering occurs between October and February and is followed by fruit which are woody, barrel-shaped capsules long, wide with persistent sepal tips. Kunzea linearis fruit

Taxonomy and naming

Rawiri manuka was first formally described in 1889 by Thomas Kirk who gave it the name ''Leptospermum ericoides'' var. ''lineare'' and published the description in his book "The Forest Flora of New Zealand". In 2014

Peter James de Lange Peter James de Lange (born 1966) is a New Zealand botanist. Born and schooled in Hamilton, New Zealand, he graduated from the University of Waikato as B.Sc. in biological and earth sciences, then as M.Sc. in paleoecology and tephrochronostrat ...

and Hellmut Toelken changed the name to ''Kunzea linearis''. 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 ...

(''linearis'') is a Latin word meaning "linear", referring to the linear leaves of this species.

Distribution and habitat

''Kunzea linearis'' mostly grows in coastal to lowland shrubland in impoverished soils and peat bogs. It mostly occurs in the northern part of the North Island from North Cape south to

Ahipara Ahipara is a town and locality in Northland, New Zealand at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, with the Tauroa Peninsula to the west and Herekino Forest to the east. Ahipara Bay is to the north west. Kaitaia is 14 km to the north east, ...

and the

Karikari Peninsula The Karikari Peninsula on the east coast of the far north of Northland, New Zealand, is between Rangaunu Harbour to the west, and Doubtless Bay to the southeast. It is a right-angled land mass of two relatively distinct parts. The rocky northe ...

and sporadically south of there. It is the most distinctive of the New Zealand kunzeas.

Conservation

This kunzea is listed as "At Risk - Declining". The main threats to the species are loss of habitat, collecting for firewood and hybridisation with other kunzeas in urban settings.

Use in horticulture

Rawiri manuka is most easily propagated from fresh seed. File:Kunzea linearis trees.jpg, Very large ''Kunzea linearis'' trees

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21274382 linearis Endemic flora of New Zealand Plants described in 1889 Taxa named by Thomas Kirk