Kunzea graniticola facts for kids

Kunzea graniticola is a special plant that belongs to the myrtle family, called Myrtaceae. It's a type of plant that grows only in Queensland, Australia, meaning it's endemic there. This plant can be a shrub or a small tree. It has long, narrow leaves or leaves shaped like an egg. You can spot its white or cream-colored flowers growing in round groups at the ends of its branches. It usually blooms in August and September. This plant is only found in forests near Cardwell and on Hinchinbrook Island.

What Does It Look Like?

Kunzea graniticola is a shrub or a small tree. It can grow up to about 4 m (10 ft) tall. Its branches have special corky parts instead of bark that peels off.

The leaves grow one after another along the branches. They can be long and narrow, or shaped like an egg with the narrower part at the bottom. Most leaves are about 6–9 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long and 15 mm (0.6 in) wide. They are flat and smooth, with no hairs. If you look closely, you might see up to sixty tiny oil glands on the underside of the leaves.

The flowers are white or cream-colored. They grow in round groups of three to eight flowers at the ends of all the branches. Each flower has small, leaf-like parts called bracts and even smaller ones called bracteoles at its base. The cup-shaped part of the flower, called the floral cup, is about 3.5–4 mm (0.14–0.16 in) long and smooth.

The flower has small, triangular parts called sepals, which are about 1–1.5 mm (0.04–0.06 in) long and smooth. The petals are shaped like wide eggs and are about 2 mm (0.08 in) long. There are many stamens (the parts that make pollen), usually eighty or more, and they are about 4 mm (0.2 in) long, growing in several rows. This plant usually flowers in August and September.

How It Got Its Name

The plant Kunzea graniticola was first officially described in 1982. It was named by a person named Norman Brice Byrnes. He found a sample of the plant north of Ingham. The description was then published in a science journal called Austrobaileya.

Where It Lives

You can find K. graniticola growing in forests. It likes rocky slopes and areas near river banks. This plant lives on Hinchinbrook Island and in nearby parts of the mainland, close to Cardwell.

How It Is Protected

Kunzea graniticola is listed as "Least Concern" in Queensland. This means that, according to the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992, there are currently enough of these plants, and they are not considered to be in danger of disappearing.