Slender burgan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Slender burgan |
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| Kunzea parvifolia Mount Buffalo National Park, Victoria |
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Kunzea
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| Species: |
phylicoides
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The Slender burgan (scientific name: Kunzea phylicoides) is a beautiful flowering plant that belongs to the myrtle family, called Myrtaceae. You can find this plant only in southeastern Australia. It is an upright shrub with branches that hang down a bit. It has bark that feels like fiber or cork, bright green, thin leaves, and pretty white flowers that bloom in spring.
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About the Slender Burgan
The Slender burgan is a graceful, upright shrub. It usually grows up to 3 m (10 ft) tall. Its branches often droop, and its bark can be fibrous or corky.
Its leaves are long and narrow, like a spear. They are about 7–25 mm (0.3–1 in) long and 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) wide. Each leaf sits on a small stalk called a petiole, which is about 0.5–1 mm (0.02–0.04 in) long.
Flowers of the Slender Burgan
The flowers grow either by themselves or in small groups of up to three. They appear where the leaves meet the stem, which is called the upper leaf axil. Each flower has a small stem called a pedicel, about 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long. There are no small leaf-like parts (bracts or bracteoles) at the base of the flower.
The sepals, which are like small leaves protecting the bud, are green and a bit reddish near their base. They are triangular and about 1–1.5 mm (0.04–0.06 in) long. The petals are white and mostly round, about 1.5–2.5 mm (0.06–0.1 in) long.
Each flower usually has 25 to 35 white stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen. These stamens are about 1–4 mm (0.04–0.2 in) long, and some are shorter than the petals. The style, which is part of the female reproductive organ, is about 1.5–2.5 mm (0.059–0.098 in) long.
When it Flowers and Fruits
Slender burgan mostly flowers from November to February. After flowering, it produces a fruit that is about 2.5–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide. This fruit is not woody.
Similar Plants
The Slender burgan looks a lot like another plant called K. ericoides. However, the Slender burgan has a more graceful shape, its flowers grow in leafy groups, and it has about twice as many stamens. Sometimes, the Slender burgan can even hybridise (mix genes) with the K. peduncularis.
How it Got its Name
The Slender burgan was first officially described in 1843 by a botanist named Johannes Conrad Schauer. He used an earlier description from Allan Cunningham, who had called it Baeckea phylicoides.
Later, in 1917, George Claridge Druce changed its name to Kunzea phylicoides. The second part of its scientific name, phylicoides, means that this plant looks similar to other plants in the genus Phylica. The ending -oides is a Latin suffix that means "like," "resembling," or "having the form of."
Where it Grows
You can find the Slender burgan growing along the Snowy River and its smaller rivers in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria.
