Kunzea Rchb., 2014

de Lange, Peter J., 2014, A revision of the New Zealand Kunzea ericoides (Myrtaceae) complex, PhytoKeys 40, pp. 1-185 : 17-18

publication ID

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.40.7973

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/EF286DF7-F929-A687-6EAC-6A269B006F78

treatment provided by

PhytoKeys by Pensoft

scientific name

Kunzea Rchb.
status

nom. cons.

Kunzea Rchb. nom. cons.

Kunzea Rchb. Consp. Regn. Veg.: 175. (Dec 1828) nom. cons.

Stenospermum Sweet ex Heynh., Hort. Brit. (Sweet), ed. 2: 209 (1830) nom. inval. (fide Toelken 1981a)

Tillospermum Salisb., Monthly Rev. 75: 74 (1814) nom. rej.

Kunzia Sprengel nom. superf. (fide Toelken 1981a, 1981b)

Pentagonaster Klotsch in Otto et Dietrich, Allgemeine Gartenzeitung IV: 112 (1836)

Salisia Lindl. Sketch. Veg. Swan R. 10 (1839)

Lectotype species.

Kunzea capitata (Sm.) Heynh. (fide Toelken 1981b)

Description.

Creeping shrubs, shrubs, small or tall trees with or without lignotubers and rhizomes. Leaves mostly alternate, opposite in a few species. Inflorescences reduced conflorescences (botrya) usually pseudoterminal, globose to spiciform or cylindrical bearing sessile to subsessile flowers, otherwise corymbiform to elongate, with pedicellate flowers rarely reduced to solitary. Flowers 5-merous, red, pink, purple, yellow or white, free part of hypanthium usually exceeding the ovary summit. Calyx persistent in fruit. Petals free often much reduced. Stamens mostly numerous, in one or more series, exceeding petals or included; filaments finely striated, anthers versatile. Ovary mostly 2-3-locular sometimes up to 5-6-locular; placentation axillary and ovules spreading, numerous, to apical with few larger pendent ovules. Fruit a capsule, usually loculicidal, mostly dry, rarely indehiscent or fleshy, not persisting. Chromosome number: 2 n = 22 based on x = 11 ( Dawson 1987; de Lange and Murray 2004).

Distribution.

Australia: c.54 spp. (all endemic) New Zealand: 10 spp. (all endemic).

Key to New Zealand Kunzea

This key requires material with active new growth, buds, flowers, and ideally seedlings. In some species, such as Kunzea amathicola , Kunzea linearis and Kunzea triregensis , the inflorescence condition can be easily determined in the absence of flowers from fruiting specimens, as fruits in these species are especially persistent. Use young growth only to determine branchlet indumentum, and examine the hairs produced 10-20 mm back from the branchlet tip-this is important as some species produce sparse, deciduous, antrorse-appressed hairs at the base of the actively growing branchlet apices. This key will not resolve hybrids, but these may be recognised by the hybridism notes given for each species. Geographic and ecological information is included in this key as a further aid to identification. For example, on Moutohora (Whale Island), Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand, Kunzea salterae can very occasionally (only one specimen with this condition seen) have glabrescent to almost fully glabrous branchlets, and so would key out to Kunzea ericoides . In these very rare instances, in the absence of flowers and fruits, such specimens could only reliably be identified by their location.

1 a Branchlet hairs on new season growth mostly divergent; divergent hairs up to 0.1 mm long 2
1b Branchlet hairs on new season growth mostly antrorse-appressed; hairs up to 0.7 mm long 6
2a Mature branchlets glabrescent; branchlet hairs strictly divergent, 0.02-0.05 mm long; pherophylls foliose, ± persistent, narrowly elliptic, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate; hypanthia sharply obconic, glabrous (very rarely sparsely hairy); endemic to the northern South Island, New Zealand 1 Kunzea ericoides
2b Mature branchlets hairy; branchlet hairs mostly divergent 0.03-0.12 mm long; pherophylls foliose or squamiform, deciduous, spathulate, spathulate-orbicular, rarely pandurate, oblong, oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, shortly lanceolate or broadly to narrowly linear-lanceolate; hypanthia urceolate, campanulate, narrowly cupular, funnelform to obconic, puberulent (very rarely glabrescent); not endemic to the South Island, New Zealand 3
3a Branches obliquely ascending, fastigiate; pherophylls foliose not squamiform, mostly spathulate (sometimes pandurate); petals with yellow oil glands when fresh 2 Kunzea serotina
3b Branches spreading to widely spreading, suberect to erect and ascending but not obliquely ascending or fastigiate; pherophylls foliose, squamiform or usually both, never spathulate; petals with rose-pink or colourless oil glands when fresh, or oil glands not evident fresh or dry 4
4a Plants heterophyllous; branchlet hairs copious, divergent, weakly flexuose, 0.03-0.08 mm long, apices ± straight; leaves of juveniles and reversion shoots linear-lanceolate, 0.9-3.0(-4.5) × 0.2-0.4(-0.6) mm long, sometimes long persistent; calyx-lobes distinctly thickened toward the base, and with an obvious external junction with the hypanthium; species confined to active geothermal habitats of the mainland Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand 3 Kunzea tenuicaulis
4b Plants not heterophyllous, branchlets glabrescent or hairy; if hairy then hairs of two types, antrorse-appressed (often deciduous) straight to weakly flexuose, up to 0.55 mm long, or divergent, up to 0.12 mm long, with curled apices; adult leaves variable, if linear-lanceolate then 4-10(-18) × 0.6-1.2(-2.0) mm long; calyx lobes of hypanthia not thickened toward base; species of mostly non geothermal habitats of Moutohora (Whale Island) and the coastal Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand 5
5a Epicormic growth and suckers absent; branchlets hairy (rarely glabrescent); hairs in mixtures of longer (up to 0.55 mm long), deciduous, antrorse-appressed hairs and shorter (up to 0.10 mm long), persistent, divergent hairs with ± curled apices; antrorse-appressed hairs confined to active branchlet tips; adult leaves linear-lanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate; species endemic to Moutohora (Whale Island), Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, where widespread, and sometimes found in active geothermal habitats 4 Kunzea salterae
5 b Epicormic growth and suckers frequent, prostrate and widely trailing from trunk base; branchlet hairs copious, persistent, in mixtures of divergent and antrorse-appressed hairs; antrorse-appressed hairs straight up to 0.03 mm long, not confined to active branchlet tips; divergent hairs up to 0.14 mm long, apices strongly curled and spiralled; leaves mostly obovate to clavate, sometimes broadly oblanceolate; species endemic to mobile sand systems of the eastern Bay of Plenty, Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand not known from geothermal habitats 5 Kunzea toelkenii
6a Inflorescences spiciform; leaves consistently linear with distinctly hairy margins and abaxial midrib (rarely glabrescent); pherophylls obliquely ascending, linear to linear-falcate; flowers sessile to subsessile; calyx lobes sharply erect and apically pinched inwards in mature flower buds 6 Kunzea linearis
6b Inflorescences elongate or corymbiform, never spiciform; leaves variable but rarely linear (if linear then glabrescent, and with inflorescences consistently corymbiform); pherophylls spreading or recurved, oblong, oblong-obovate, broadly oblong to elliptic, narrowly deltoid, narrowly lanceolate, lanceolate, oblanceolate or rarely broadly spathulate; flowers pedicellate; calyx lobes flat or slightly domed in mature flower buds, rarely suberect, if so then not apically pinched inwards 7
7a Inflorescences elongate, never corymbiform; pherophylls foliose, persistent 8
7b Inflorescences initially corymbiform, sometimes elongate toward end of flowering season; pherophylls foliose and squamiform, mostly deciduous, rarely persistent 9
8a Plants heterophyllous; shrubs or trees of mainly coastal mobile sand systems; reversion shoots and epicormic growth occasional; juvenile long persistent, often flowering; juvenile leaves ovate, broadly ovate, rhomboid to obovate; adult leaves oblong, oblong-obovate, broadly oblanceolate to lanceolate; pherophylls oblong, oblong-obovate, broadly oblong to elliptic; species endemic to North and South Islands of New Zealand, not known from the Three Kings Islands group 7 Kunzea amathicola
8b Plants not heterophyllous; trees of coastal shrubland and forest; reversion shoots and epicormic growth absent; leaves lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate; pherophylls broadly lanceolate to lanceolate; species endemic to the Three Kings Islands group 8 Kunzea triregensis
9a Prostrate, widely spreading shrubs (very rarely small trees up to 6 m tall) of mainly exposed, sparsely vegetated rhyolitic rock and talus; new growth subscandent; adult leaf surfaces densely covered in persistent, long (0.45-1.23 mm long) antrorse-appressed hairs; lamina silvery white, silvery-grey to reddish-grey; species endemic to Aotea (Great Barrier Island), New Zealand 9 Kunzea sinclairii
9b Erect trees up to 30 m tall of coastal to montane successional forested habitats; new growth initially erect, soon widely spreading, rarely pendulous, never subscandent; adult leaf surfaces glabrous except for margins and midrib, these ± finely covered with a thin, often interrupted band of deciduous hairs tending toward glabrate; lamina light to dark green; widespread throughout the main islands of New Zealand 10 Kunzea robusta

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Myrtales

Family

Myrtaceae

Loc

Kunzea Rchb.

de Lange, Peter J. 2014
2014
Loc

Kunzea

de Lange 2014
2014
Loc

Stenospermum

de Lange 2014
2014
Loc

Tillospermum

de Lange 2014
2014
Loc

Kunzia

de Lange 2014
2014
Loc

Pentagonaster

de Lange 2014
2014
Loc

Salisia

de Lange 2014
2014