About Gaultheria appressa A.W.Hill
Gaultheria appressa, commonly known as waxberry or white waxberry, is a flowering shrub that belongs to the Ericaceae plant family. This species is endemic to Australia. It has an erect or spreading growth habit, reaching heights between 0.5 and 2 metres (1.6 and 6.6 ft). Its stems are covered in reddish brown hairs. The leaves of the plant are 3 to 8 cm (1.2 to 3.1 in) long and 1 to 3 cm (0.39 to 1.18 in) wide, with small teeth along their edges. Flowers grow in groups of three to eleven in racemes, and bloom from late spring through summer. During fruit development, the plant's sepals become fleshy, white, and enlarged. Mature fruits are between 7 and 10 millimetres (0.28 and 0.39 in) in diameter. Gaultheria appressa grows in woodland, forest, subalpine scrub, and rainforest margins within the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria. In the Greater Sydney region, it is recorded to grow at altitudes between 800 and 1,000 metres (2,600 and 3,300 ft), in areas that receive 1,000 mm (39 in) of annual rainfall.
