Kunzea ambigua
Kunzea ambigua, commonly known as white kunzea or tick bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with linear to narrowly lance-shaped leaves and white, more or less sessile flowers and dehiscent fruit.Description
Kunzea ambigua is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has young stems covered with shaggy hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately, linear to narrowly lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole about long. The flowers are white, more or less sessile, crowded on leafy side branches or in the axils of upper leaves. The sepals are narrowly triangular, long and the petals the same length, the stamens long. The ovary usually has three locules and the style is long. Flowering mainly occurs from October to January, and the fruit is dehiscent, long and in diameter.Taxonomy and naming
Kunzea ambigua was first formally described in 1797 by James Edward Smith who gave it the name Leptospermum ambiguum in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. In 1917, English botanist George Claridge Druce transferred the species to Kunzea. The generic name honours German naturalist Gustav Kunze, while the specific epithet is derived from the Latin adjective ambiguus meaning "doubtful" or "uncertain".
A pale pink-flowered hybrid with Kunzea capitata has been recorded from Stony Range Flora reserve in Dee Why in Sydney's northern beaches region.Distribution and habitat
Kunzea ambigua is found from northeastern New South Wales, having been recorded in the Grand High Tops of the Warrumbungle National Park, through Victoria and into Tasmania. It grows on sandy soils in coastal or near-coastal regions. It is a very common dry forest shrub of the Sydney region, and regenerates in disturbed or cleared areas. It is associated with scrub she-oak, Melaleuca nodosa, cheese tree in heath or scrub, and with red bloodwood, peppermint gum, forest red gum, woolybutt, thin-leaved stringybark , and white feather honeymyrtle in forested areas. In Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, Kunzea ambigua is the dominant species within scattered areas of treeless heath that occur on granite hills and mountains.Ecology
Insects are the main pollinators of Kunzea ambigua; these include various types of beetles including jewel beetles, scarab beetles, flower beetles, and checkered beetles as well as butterflies, flies, bees and wasps. Tick bush is killed by fire and regenerates from seed. Plants can also colonise unburnt sites with ample sunlight.Use in horticulture
It was one of the first species of Australian plant introduced into cultivation in England. It is a hardy and adaptable plant that is used in windbreaks and sand dune stabilization plantings, as well as gardens, particularly in Australian gardens using native plants according to principles of natural landscaping. The species attracts Australian native insects, and can provide shelter for small birds and the long-nosed bandicoot.