''Kunzea recurva'' 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 Western Australia. It is an uncommon shrub with small leaves and groups of pink or purplish flowers on the ends of the branches.

Description

''Kunzea recurva'' is an erect, highly branched shrub which grows to a height of with hairy young branches. The base of the leaves is pressed against the stem but the tips spread outwards. They are mostly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, mostly long and wide on a short stalk. The flowers are pink to reddish purple and are borne in more or less spherical groups about across on the ends of the branches. 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 lobes are egg-shaped to spatula-shaped about in diameter and there are mostly 20 to 35

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 long in each flower. Flowering occurs between August and December but mostly between September and November and the fruit that follows is an urn-shaped capsule with the sepal lobes remaining.

Taxonomy and naming

''Kunzea recurva'' was first formally described by the

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Johannes Conrad Schauer and published in 1844 in Johann Georg Christian Lehmann's work ''

Plantae Preissianae ''Plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali annis 1838-1841 collegit Ludovicus Preiss'', more commonly known as ''Plantae preissianae'', is a book written by Johann Georg Christian Leh ...

''. 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 ...

(''recurva'') is derived from the Latin word, ''curvus'' meaning "bent".

Distribution and habitat

''Kunzea recurva'' is an uncommon species, usually found in wet depressions or on rocky slopes in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and Great Southern regions of Western Australia, where it grows in a variety of soil types.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15368482 recurva Endemic flora of Western Australia Myrtales of Australia Rosids of Western Australia Plants described in 1844