#2213 - Kunzea tenuicaulis - Geothermal Kānuka
Named after Gustav Kunze, a 19th century German botanist, zoology, and entomologist with an interest in ferns and orchids. tenuicaulis means 'thin stalk'.
The dominant shrub and small tree in geothermal areas in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, but highly variable in size. In fact, it's quite possible it's a form of the even more variable Kunzea ericoides var. microflora.
Geothermal Kānuka can be a tree 8 meters tall as long as it doesn't have an active volcanic area immeadiately underneath it, but as you get closer and closer to the centre of a hydrothermal area like the Craters of the Moon, the Kunzea gets smaller and smaller until it's less than 10cm tall. A lot of that is because the roots cook if they try to go any deeper.
Most Kunzea are endemic to Western Australia but a few occur in eastern Australia and even fewer in New Zealand. The taxonomy of the genus is complicated by the existence of multiple hybrids.
Craters of the Moon, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand