Kunzea micromera facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kunzea micromera |
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| Kunzea micormera in the Fitzgerald River National Park | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Kunzea |
| Species: |
K. micromera
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| Binomial name | |
| Kunzea micromera Schauer
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Kunzea micromera is a beautiful flowering plant that belongs to the myrtle family, called Myrtaceae. This plant is special because it is found only in the southwest part of Western Australia. It's a small, spread-out shrub. It looks a bit like another plant called K. micrantha, but its sepals are shorter and more rounded. In spring, Kunzea micromera grows pretty groups of pink flowers on the ends of its long branches.
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What Kunzea Micromera Looks Like
Kunzea micromera is a shrub with branches that are not very close together. It usually grows to be about 20 to 60 centimeters (8 to 24 inches) tall. It often has a few main stems with some smaller branches coming off them.
Leaves and Flowers
The leaves of this plant are shaped like an oval or a spear, getting narrower at the bottom. They are usually about 1.5 to 3 millimeters (0.06 to 0.12 inches) long and about 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) wide. Each leaf has a very short stem, less than 0.5 millimeters long.
The flowers grow in groups, usually with twelve to twenty flowers in each cluster. These clusters appear at the ends of a few long shoots. Around the flowers are special leaf-like parts called bracts. These bracts are egg-shaped, about 2 to 3 millimeters long and 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters wide. They are mostly smooth. There are also smaller pairs of bracteoles nearby.
The base of the flower, called the floral cup, is about 3 millimeters long and smooth. The five sepals are egg-shaped with a rounded end, smooth, and about 1 millimeter long. The five petals are pink and shaped like an egg or almost round. They are about 1.5 to 2 millimeters long and wide. Each flower has 14 to 22 stamens, which are about 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters long and arranged in several rows.
Flowering and Fruit
Kunzea micromera flowers between August and November. After the flowers bloom, they turn into fruits. These fruits are urn-shaped capsules with a clear bulge, and the sepals stay attached to them.
Its Name and History
The plant Kunzea micromera was officially described for the first time in 1848. This was done by a botanist named Johannes Conrad Schauer. He wrote about it in a book called Plantae Preissianae.
The second part of its scientific name, micromera, comes from two ancient Greek words. "Mikros" (μικρός) means "small," and "meros" (μέρος) means "part." So, micromera means "small parts," likely referring to its small leaves or flower parts.
Where Kunzea Micromera Grows
You can often find Kunzea micromera in wet, low-lying areas and along the edges of swamps. It grows in sandy or clay soils. This plant is found in several regions of Western Australia, including areas between Stokes Inlet, Albany, Narrogin, and Newdegate. These regions are part of the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain, and Warren biogeographic regions.
