Kunzea cincinnata facts for kids

Kunzea cincinnata is a beautiful flowering plant. It belongs to the myrtle family, called Myrtaceae. This plant is special because it is only found in a small area on the south coast of Western Australia. This means it is endemic to that region.

Kunzea cincinnata is a type of shrub. It usually grows to be about 0.6 to 1 meter (2 to 3 feet) tall. Its lovely pink to red-purple flowers bloom between September and October.

What it Looks Like

Kunzea cincinnata is a shrub with a few main stems. It also has many shorter branches. It grows to be about 0.6 to 1 meter (2 to 3 feet) tall.

Its leaves are long and narrow, like a spear tip. They are about 3 to 7 millimeters (0.1 to 0.3 inches) long. The leaves are less than 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) wide. Each leaf has a short stalk, about 0.5 to 1 millimeter (0.02 to 0.04 inches) long.

The flowers grow in groups of up to three. You can find them at the ends of the shorter branches. Small, hairy leaf-like parts called bracts surround the flowers. These bracts are about 3 to 4.5 millimeters (0.1 to 0.2 inches) long. Even smaller pairs of bracteoles are also present.

The flower has a cup-shaped base called a floral cup, which is about 3 millimeters (0.1 inches) long. It has five egg-shaped, hairy sepals, about 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) long. The five petals are pink to deep magenta. They are about 2.5 to 3 millimeters (0.1 to 0.12 inches) long. There are also about thirty stamens, which are slightly longer than the petals.

This plant flowers in September and October. After flowering, it produces fruit. These fruits are urn-shaped capsules, which are like seed pods.

Naming the Plant

The plant Kunzea cincinnata was first officially described in 1996. This was done by a scientist named Hellmut R. Toelken. He found a sample of the plant near Ravensthorpe. The description was published in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

The second part of its name, cincinnata, is a Latin word. It means "curly." This name refers to the curly hairs found on the branches and leaves of the plant. These curly hairs help tell it apart from a similar plant called K. affinis.

Where it Lives

This type of kunzea plant is often found in the mountain ranges. It grows in coastal areas of the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia. It is mostly found around Fitzgerald River National Park.

It likes to grow in gravelly loam soils. These are soils that have a mix of gravel, sand, silt, and clay. They are often found over a type of rock called laterite.

Looking After the Plant

The Western Australian Government's Department of Parks and Wildlife has looked at Kunzea cincinnata. They have classified it as "not threatened." This means that the plant is not currently in danger of disappearing.