Kunzea jucunda

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Kunzea jucunda
Kunzea jucunda.jpg
Kunzea jucunda (cultivated) in the Maranoa Gardens
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Kunzea
Species:
K. jucunda
Binomial name
Kunzea jucunda

Kunzea jucunda is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia where it occurs on sandy or rocky soils of undulating plains. It is similar to Kunzea affinis and where the ranges of the two species overlap, hybrids occur.

Contents

Description

Kunzea jucunda is a shrub with a few erect main stems and many short side branches. It usually grows to a height of 0.6–1.2 m (2–4 ft) and is mostly glabrous except for a few hairs around the flowers and youngest leaves. The leaves are glabrous, mostly elliptic in shape, about 3 mm (0.1 in) long and 1–1.5 mm (0.04–0.06 in) wide with a petiole less than 1 mm (0.04 in) long. The flowers are arranged in heads of mostly two to four on the ends of the side branches. The flowers are surrounded by bracts which are about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and wide, mostly glabrous except for a few hairs around the edges and by pairs of smaller bracteoles. The floral cup is about 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) long and the five sepals are lance-shaped, glabrous and about 1 mm (0.04 in) long. The five petals are spatula-shaped to almost round, about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and pink to deep mauve. There are eighteen to twenty four stamens in several rows in each flower. Flowering occurs mainly between August and October and is followed by fruit which are urn-shaped capsules with five vertical ridges. This kunzea is similar to K. affinis but is distinguished mainly by the mostly glabrous leaves and bracts. Where the ranges of the two species meet, hybrids often occur. [2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Kunzea jucunda was first formally described in 1904 by Ludwig Diels and Ernst Georg Pritzel and the description was published in the journal Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie. [1] The specific epithet (jucunda) is a Latin word meaning "pleasant, agreeable or delightful". [4]

Distribution and habitat

This kunzea grows in a wide range of habitats, but often occurs on sandy or rocky soils of undulating plains, mostly between the Stirling Range and Ravensthorpe in the Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions. [2] [5]

Conservation

Kunzea jucunda is classified as "Not Threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Kunzea salina</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea salina is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a low, spreading, densely branched shrub with leaves mostly arranged in opposite pairs and usually two sessile pale pink to white flowers arranged at the base of new shoots. It only grows near the edge of certain salt lakes.

Kunzea glabrescens, commonly known as spearwood, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a large shrub with leaves and flowers similar to those of K. ericifolia but has differently shaped bracteoles. It is often common in wet areas around Perth.

<i>Kunzea baxteri</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea baxteri, commonly known as scarlet kunzea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia where it occurs near granite outcrops and hills. It is a shrub with large, scarlet, bottlebrush-like flower clusters, making it popular as a garden feature.

<i>Kunzea parvifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea parvifolia, commonly known as the violet kunzea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a wiry shrub with small, narrow leaves and clusters of pink to purple flowers in spring.

<i>Kunzea montana</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea montana, commonly known as mountain kunzea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with more or less round leaves and heads of cream-coloured to pale yellow flowers on the ends of the branches in late spring. It is an uncommon species, growing on rocky mountain slopes, but all populations are conserved in the Stirling Range National Park.

Kunzea acicularis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with a few erect stems, small and groups of three to five, pink to mauve flowers. It is a rare, recently described species only known from a small area near Ravensthorpe.

Kunzea affinis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with many branches, small, crowded leaves and pink, five-petalled flowers in early spring.

<i>Kunzea ciliata</i> Species of shrub

Kunzea ciliata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub which typically grows to a height of 0.8 to 1.5 metres and blooms between October and November producing pink flowers.

Kunzea cincinnata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area on the south coast of Western Australia. It is a shrub which typically grows to a height of 0.6 to 1 metre and blooms between September and October producing pink to red-purple flowers.

<i>Kunzea micrantha</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea micrantha is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south west of Western Australia. It blooms between September and December producing pink-purple to white-cream flowers. A widespread and variable species, it is difficult to distinguish from K. praestans and from K. micromera where their range overlap.

<i>Kunzea micromera</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea micromera is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south west of Western Australia. It is a small, sparse shrub, similar in some respects to K. micrantha but has shorter, more rounded sepal lobes. It produces groups of pink flowers on the ends of a few long shoots in spring.

<i>Kunzea newbeyi</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea newbeyi is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area along the south coast of Western Australia. It is a robust shrub with small leaves and groups of about twenty to thirty pink flowers in October and November.

<i>Kunzea rostrata</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea rostrata is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to an area along the south west coast of Western Australia. It is a shrub with small, mostly elliptic leaves and with groups of between mostly eleven and fifteen rose pink flowers mainly on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering.

Kunzea praestans is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with sessile leaves and groups of about fourteen to twenty pink flowers in more or less spherical groups on the end of the branches.

<i>Kunzea preissiana</i> Species of shrub

Kunzea preissiana is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a shrub with hairy branches and leaves, pink to mauve flowers in groups on the ends of shoots, and twenty to thirty stamens about the same length as the petals. It is a widespread, often locally common species across its range.

<i>Kunzea spathulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea spathulata is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in the south west of Western Australia. It is a tall shrub with erect, much-branched stems, linear leaves and more or less spherical groups of yellow or yellowish green flowers.

Leptospermum sericeum, commonly known as the silver tea tree, is a species of shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has thin, firm bark, egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, relatively large, pink flowers and fruit that fall from the plant with the seeds. It grows in windswept rock crevices near Esperance.

Kunzea graniticola is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a shrub or small tree with linear to egg-shaped leaves and rounded groups of white or cream-coloured flowers on the ends of the branches in August and September. It is only known from forests near Cardwell and on Hinchinbrook Island.

Kunzea juniperoides is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a small shrub with narrow leaves and small groups of white flowers near the end of the longer branches. It is distinguished from similar kunzeas by the large number of scale-like perules and bracts surrounding the groups of flowers.

<i>Kunzea occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea occidentalis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a western New South Wales. It is a shrub with narrow leaves and small groups of white flowers on leafy side-branches. It is distinguished from the similar Kunzea ambigua by the flanges on the sides of its young branches.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kunzea jucunda". APNI. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 Toelken, Hellmut (1996). "A Revision of the Genus Kunzea (Myrtaceae) I. The Western Australian section Zeanuk". Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden. 17: 95–98.
  3. Archer, William. "Kunzea affinis". Esperance Wildflowers. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  4. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 75.
  5. 1 2 "Kunzea jucunda". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.