Kunzea acicularis

Kunzea acicularis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with a few erect stems, small and groups of three to five, pink to mauve flowers. It is a rare, recently described species only known from a small area near Ravensthorpe.

Description

Kunzea acicularis is a shrub which grows to a height of up to, with a few erect, irregularly-branched stems which are covered with fine hairs when young. The leaves are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, densely hairy, long, about wide, with a stalk less than long.
Three to five pink to mauve flowers are arranged in groups on the ends of branches. The flowers are surrounded by hairy, narrow triangular bracts and bracteoles about long and wide. The sepals are about long and hairy and the five petals are long and almost round. There are about 26 stamens which are usually longer than the petals and a style long. Flowering occurs in October and November and is followed by fruit which are hairy urn-shaped capsules with the sepals attached.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 2007 by Hellmut Toelken and Gil Craig and the description was published in Nuytsia. The specific epithet is a Latin word meaning "like a needle" referring to the needle-like bracts.

Distribution and habitat

This kunzea grows in mallee and heath on hills and slopes north-east of Ravensthorpe in the Esperance Plains biogeographic region.

Conservation

Kunzea acicularis is classified as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife and an interim recovery plan has been prepared.