Kunzea salterae

Detailed description

Shrubs to small trees 0.1–10 × 2–6 m with broad, spreading, somewhat pendulous crowns, or completely decumbent and sprawling. Trunk up to 0.3 m d.b.h., widely spreading to suberect, flexuose. Bark initially firm, sinuous-fluted, elongate, cracking transversely with apices gradually detaching as small lunate flakes. Branches suberect to widely spreading, ascending or pendulous, branchlets slender; sericeous, indumentum copious rarely glabrate to glabrous, sericeous; initial hairs on emergent growth, straight, antrorse-appressed to 0.55 mm, deciduous; otherwise divergent persistent 0.04–0.1 mm, apices ± curled, often admixed antrorse-appressed, straight to somewhat sinuous hairs up to 0.28 mm. Leaves ± spreading to patent; lamina 4–18 × 0.6–2.0 mm, bright green, yellow-green, bronze-green to dark green; linear-lanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, apex acute to subacute, cuspidate, rarely obtuse to rounded; base attenuate; lamina margin sparsely to densely, sericeous, hairs antrorse-appressed, to 0.5 mm, in 1–2 irregular rows just failing short of leaf apex. Inflorescence a 2–8-flowered corymbiform botryum to 45 mm long. Pherophylls deciduous squamiform, rarely foliose, 0.6–1.8 mm long; squamiform pherophylls brown or amber, broadly deltoid to oblong-ovate, glabrous except for finely ciliate margin and apex; foliose pherophylls bright green, linear, margins and apex finely ciliate. Pedicels 1.1–3.0 mm long, invested in divergent to subantrorse sericeous hairs. Flower buds pyriform to clavate, apex domed with calyx valves not or scarcely meeting. Fresh flowers 9–12 mm diam. Hypanthium 2.1–3.8 × 1.8–3.2 mm, reddish-brown; narrowly obconic to funnelform terminating in a slightly thicker rim bearing five persistent calyx lobes; surface smooth, sparsely hairy to glabrate; hairs subantrorse to antrorse, flexuose. Calyx lobes 5, upright 0.6–0.9 × 1.1–1.3 mm, persistent, broadly to narrowly triangular, glabrate except for ciliate apex. Receptacle dark red at anthesis. Petals 5, spreading, 1.4–1.6 × 1.4–1.6 mm, white, rarely basally flushed pink, orbicular to suborbicular, apex obtuse to rotund, margins finely crimped, oil glands colourless or rose-pink, scarcely evident when fresh. Stamens 28–38 in 1–2 weakly defined whorls, filaments white rarely tinged rose-pink toward base. Anthers dorsifixed, 0.11–0.16 × 0.10–0.14 mm, scutiform to ovoid, latrorse. Pollen white. Anther connective gland prominent, pale orange to pink when fresh, drying orange-brown, spheroidal, finely papillate, somewhat farinose. Ovary 3–4 locular, each locule with 8–10 ovules in two rows on each placental lobe. Style 2.1–3.2 mm long at anthesis, white basally flushed with pink; stigma capitate, up to 1× style diameter, flat, abruptly broadened, pale cream, finely papillate rugulose. Fruits 2.0–2.7 × 2.0–4.0 mm, light brown to grey, cupular to suburceolate. Seeds 0.80–1.00 × 0.45–0.48 mm, narrowly oblong, oblong, oblong-obovate to falcate-oblong or elliptic, testa semi-glossy, orange-brown; surface coarsely reticulate, central portion of cells furnished with short, tubular-spiny, protuberances.