Kunzea axillaris facts for kids

Kunzea axillaris is a special kind of flowering plant. It belongs to the myrtle family, which is called Myrtaceae. This plant is only found in a small part of New South Wales, Australia. It grows as an upright shrub or a small tree. It has long, thin leaves and pretty white flowers. These flowers grow one by one where the leaves meet the stem. You can only find this plant in the mountain ranges along the north coast of New South Wales.

What it Looks Like

Kunzea axillaris is an upright plant. It can be a shrub or a tree. It grows up to about 6 meters (20 feet) tall. When it's young, its branches are a bit hairy.

Its leaves are long and narrow, like a line. They are about 3 to 5 millimeters long (that's really tiny!). They are also very thin, less than 1 millimeter wide. When the leaves are fully grown, they are smooth and don't have hairs. The leaves get narrower towards their base, which is called the petiole. They also have a pointy tip.

The flowers of Kunzea axillaris are white. They grow close together on side branches. You can also find them one by one where the upper leaves meet the stem. Each flower sits on a small stalk, up to 2 millimeters long.

The part of the flower that holds everything together is called the floral cup. It is smooth and doesn't have hairs. The small leaf-like parts under the petals, called sepals, are less than 0.5 millimeters long. The white petals are about 1.0 to 1.5 millimeters long. Each flower has about thirty stamens, which are the parts that make pollen. These stamens are 2 to 3.5 millimeters long.

This plant usually flowers in January. After flowering, it produces fruit. The fruit are like small, cup-shaped capsules. They are about 2 to 3 millimeters long and about 1 millimeter wide.

How it Got its Name

The plant Kunzea axillaris was officially described in 2016. It was named by a scientist called Hellmut R. Toelken. His description was published in a scientific book called Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

The second part of its name, axillaris, comes from a Latin word. It means "of an axil." This name was chosen because the flowers grow one by one in the "axils" of the leaves. An axil is the angle where a leaf meets the stem.

Where it Lives

This type of kunzea plant grows in a special kind of forest. It lives in wet sclerophyll forests. These forests are found in the mountain ranges between the towns of Taree and Kempsey in New South Wales.