Kunzea ericoides (A. Rich) J. Thompson, Myrtaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Leptospermum ericoides A. Rich.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: burgan, kanuka, manuka, tea-tree, white teatree

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Shrub or small tree up to ca 6 m tall. Leaves with petioles up to ca 1.5 mm long; blades linear-ovate or linear-elliptic, apex acute, base cuneate, 1.2-2.5 cm x 0.2-0.4 cm, glabrous or with few hairs when young, oil glands conspicuous. Flowers in leafy racemes, pedicels 4-7 mm long; hypanthium 2-2.5 mm long, glabrous; sepals ca 0.5 mm long, "persistent; petals white, 2-2.5 mm long; stamens whitish. Fruits 2-3 mm broad, flat on top" (Stanley and Ross, 1986; vol. 2, p. 133).

Habitat/ecology:  Similar to Leptospermum scoparium. Cultivated as an ornamental.

Propagation:  Seed.

Native range:  Australia and New Zealand.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island		Smith, Clifford W. (1998) C.W. Smith

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	native	Allan, H. H. (1982) (p. 321) "Lowland to montane shrubland and forest, especially marginal, throughout".

Comments:  Other members of this genus, including L. laevigatum and L. polygalifolium, are also potentially invasive. See also listing for Leptospermum scoparium.

Additional information:
Information from the Global Invasive Species Database.

Additional online information about Kunzea ericoides is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Kunzea ericoides as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Kunzea ericoides may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Allan, H. H. 1982. Flora of New Zealand, vol. I: Indigenous Tracheophyta - Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. .

Smith, Clifford W. 1998. Pest Plants of Hawaiian Native Ecosystems. Online list and information.

Stanley, T. D./Ross, E. M. 1989. Flora of south-eastern Queensland. Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Misc. Pub. 81020. 3 Volumes.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.