White Kanuka Tea Tree {Kunzea ericoides} Highly Fragrant | Tea Alternative | Showy Blooms | Sacred Tree | 100+ seeds
This is a large attractive shrub, very common in South-Eastern Australia,
with a strong scent of honey, when in flower. It would make an attractive
garden shrub, but unfortunately it tends to spread rather rapidly. It
produces huge quantities of tiny seeds and unlike its close cousins the
Tea-trees (Leptospermum), it does not hold onto its seeds, but releases
them as soon as they are ripe. It is a very rapid colonizer of disturbed
ground and therefore reluctantly omitted from my choices for planting in the garden.
Kunzea ericoides, commonly known as kānuka, kanuka, or white tea-tree, is a
tree or shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand.
It has white or pink flowers similar to those of Leptospermum and from its
first formal description in 1832 until 1983 was known as Leptospermum ericoides. The flowers have five petals and up to 25 stamens which are mostly longer than the petals.
Physical Characteristics
i
Kunzea Ericoides is an evergreen Shrub growing to 3 m (9ft 10in).
It is hardy to zone (UK) 8 and is frost tender. It is in leaf 12-Jan It is in flower in May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.
USDA hardiness zone : 7-10
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soils.It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil. The plant can tolerate strong winds but not maritime exposure.
Habitats
Edible Uses
A refreshing tea can be made from the young shoot tips.
Wood - hard, durable. Used for bridges, shingles etc. When burned, it gives off a delicious aroma.