Description
Kunzea ericoides is a common tree or shrub that has an erect growth pattern that forms a broad canopy. The shrub has a single trunk arising from the ground. Less commonly, it may have 2 to 3 trunks growing at the same time. The bark of Kānuka is a greyish-white to pinkish white colour. It flakes in long, leathery tabular strips, usually with minimal secondary flaking.
The plant has numerous branches which grow at or close to the base of the trunk. The mature leaf has a dark glossy green or bronze-green colour which are soft to the touch. Flowering is from November to May, with peak flowering in January and February. The flower provides a source of food (nectar) for the native bees, birds, gecko, flies, moths and beetles. Very hardy.
Kunzea ericoides is fast-growing, but short-lived, living up to 150 years. A juvenile take about seven years to reach reproductive maturity. By then it will be about 1.5m tall. During its short lifespan, the tree can reach a height of 15m, increasing the trunk to about 60 cm in diameter. Kunzea ericoides grows on soils that contain rock fragments and in areas with steep slopes, and hard rock.
The Kunzea ericoides are not grazed by any livestock or browsing animal. This makes them good to plant in areas where livestock is currently grazed but more regeneration needs to occur for a proper revegetation programme. As the Kānuka become established, they provide a canopy for more tender or slow-growing species. For more information on plant communities that would use Kunzea as a base for regeneration, we recommend DOC’s publication Native Plant Communities of the Canterbury Plains.
Endemic to New Zealand, Kunzea ericoides is found throughout the South Island. (Taxonomists recently confirmed that K ericoides, K robusta, and K serotina are all the same species and declared all South Island Kānuka Kunzea ericoides.)
