Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Myrtales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Myrtaceae
Genus
Kunzea Rchb.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Kunzea ericoides (A.Rich.) Joy Thomps., Telopea 2: 379 (1983)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Leptospermum ericoides A.Rich., Essai Fl. Nouv.-Zél., 338 (1832)
Lectotype: ‘Leptospermum ericoides nob. Nth Zélande’ Herbarium Richard, Ex. Herbier E. Drake, P! Specimen labelled ‘TYPE’ in bold red lettering and bearing two handwritten labels by W. Harris dated 26 July 1989.
  • = Leptospermum ericoides var. pubescens Kirk, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 1: 146–147 (1869)
Lectotype: ‘Leptospermum ericoides A.Rich. v. pubescens - Great Barrier Island. T.K[irk]. Sometimes 3ft high - but usually prostrate, sometimes closely appressed to the rocks. Flowers fragrant in immense profusion’. AK 5515! Paralectotypes: AK 11437!, K (T. Kirk 176)!, WELT SP029465!
  • = Leptospermum ericoides var. linearis Kirk, Forest. Fl. New Zealand 125 (1889)
  • ≡ Leptospermum lineatum (Kirk) Cockayne, Report Dune. N. Zeal. 38 (1911)
  • ≡ Kunzea ericoides var. linearis (Kirk) W.Harris in Connor & Edgar, New Zealand J. Bot. 25: 143 (1987)
  • ≡ Kunzea linearis (Kirk) de Lange & Toelken in de Lange, PhytoKeys 40: 98-112 (2014)
  • = Leptospermum sinclairii Kirk, Stud. Fl. New Zealand 158 (1899)
  • ≡ Kunzea sinclairii (Kirk) W.Harris in Connor & Edgar, New Zealand J. Bot. 25: 134 (1987)
  • = Kunzea ericoides var. microflora (G.Simpson) W.Harris (1987)
  • = Kunzea amathicola de Lange & Toelken in de Lange, PhytoKeys 40: 112-127 (2014)
  • = Kunzea robusta de Lange & Toelken in de Lange, PhytoKeys 40: 155-175 (2014)
  • = Kunzea salterae de Lange, PhytoKeys 40: 80-89 (2014)
  • = Kunzea serotina de Lange & Toelken in de Lange, PhytoKeys 40: 47-61 (2014)
Holotype: New Zealand: North Island, 3.5 km north-east of Rangitaiki River, 38°55'26"S, 176°26'1"E, 743 m a.s.l. ‘Abundant at interface between frost flat and upland Podocarp forest. Growing in skeletal soil overlying Taupo Pumice (186 A.D. ejecta), in association with dense Dracophyllum subulatum’. P. J. de Lange 6695, 18 Feb 2005, AK 297548! Isotypes: AD! BM! CHR! MEL! WELT!
  • = Kunzea tenuicaulis de Lange, PhytoKeys 40: 62-80 (2014)
  • = Kunzea toelkenii de Lange, PhytoKeys 40: 94-98 (2014)
  • = Kunzea triregensis de Lange, PhytoKeys 40: 127-136 (2014)
Etymology:
The specific epithet ericoides alludes to the similarity in the growth form of Kunzea ericoides to Erica arborea L. i.e., ‘Ericam arboream habitu referens’ (Richard 1832; p. 338).
Vernacular Name(s):
Kānuka; Kōpuka; Manuea; Mānuka; Mānuka-rauriki; Mārū; Rauiri; Rauwiri; White tea tree
 Description

Shrub of diverse habit, or tree up to 15 m. tall or more; trunk up to 6 dm. or more diam.; bark brown, thin, shedding in long flakes. Branchlets sparsely to rather densely clad in appressed hairs when young. Lvs in fascicles of 3–5 or solitary, ± 4–12 × 1–2 mm., linear to narrow-lanceolate, acute, not pungent, glab. or sparsely silky-hairy when young; margins sts ciliolate. Fls 3–5–(7) mm. diam., axillary, on slender pedicels up to c. 5 mm. long, in 2–5-fld cymes to solitary. Receptacle narrow-turbinate; sepals ovate, acute, persistent; petals suborbicular, ± 2 mm. diam., shortly clawed. Capsules about equalling to slightly exceeding receptacle-rim, 2–4 mm. diam.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1 as Leptospermum ericoides A.Rich.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
Cockayne, L. 1911: Report on the Dune-areas of New Zealand. Their Geology, Botany and Reclamation. Department of Lands, Wellington, N.Z.
Connor, H.E.; Edgar, E. 1987: Name changes in the indigenous New Zealand flora, 1960–1986 and Nomina Nova IV, 1983–1986. New Zealand Journal of Botany 25: 115–170.
de Lange, P.J. 2014: A revision of the New Zealand Kunzea ericoides (Myrtaceae) complex. PhytoKeys 40: 1–185.
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [as Kunzea ericoides var. linearis (Kirk) W.Harris; Kunzea ericoides var. microflora (G.Simpson) W.Harris; Kunzea sinclairii (Kirk) W.Harris] [Declining; Naturally uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76. [as Kunzea ericoides var. linearis (Kirk) W.Harris; Kunzea ericoides var. microflora (G.Simpson) W.Harris; Kunzea sinclairii (Kirk) W.Harris]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Nationally Critical; Nationally Endangered; Nationally Vulnerable]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [as Kunzea ericoides (A.Rich.) Joy Thomps. var. ericoides; Kunzea ericoides var. linearis (Kirk) W.Harris; Kunzea ericoides var. microflora (G.Simpson) W.Harris; Kunzea sinclairii (Kirk) W.Harris] [Declining; Naturally Uncommon; Not Threatened]
Heenan, P.B.; McGlone, M.S.;Mitchell, C.M.; McCarthy, J.K.; Houliston, G.J. 2023: Genotypic variation, phylogeography, unified species concept, and the ‘grey zone’ of taxonomic uncertainty in kānuka: recognition of Kunzea ericoides (A.Rich.) Joy Thomps. sens. lat. (Myrtaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany: 1–30 (online). (Published online: 12 Jan 2023)
Kirk, T. 1869: On the Botany of the Great Barrier Island. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 1: 144–157.
Kirk, T. 1889: The forest flora of New Zealand. Wellington, N.Z.
Kirk,T. 1899: The Students' Flora of New Zealand and the Outlying Islands. Government Printer, Wellington, N.Z.
Richard, A. 1832: Essai d'une Flore de la Nouvelle Zélande. In: Dumont d'Urville, J. Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe. Botanique. Tastu, Paris.
Thompson, J. 1983: Redefinitions and nomenclatural changes within the Leptospermum suballiance of Myrtaceae. Telopea 2: 379–383.