About Kunzea leptospermoides F.Muell. ex Miq.
Kunzea leptospermoides, commonly known as Yarra burgan, is an erect shrub or small tree that reaches a height of 2 to 5 meters (7 to 20 feet). Its leaves are arranged alternately, and are shaped as narrow elliptic to lance-shaped with the narrower end oriented towards the base. Each leaf is 7 to 25 millimeters (0.3 to 1 inch) long, 1 to 2 millimeters (0.04 to 0.08 inch) wide, and attached by a petiole approximately 0.5 millimeters (0.02 inch) long. The flowers are white, and are crowded in leaf axils near the ends of branches, growing on pedicels 1 to 3 millimeters (0.04 to 0.1 inch) long. The floral cup is around 3 millimeters (0.1 inch) long and is more or less glabrous. The sepal lobes are green with a reddish base, triangular in shape, and about 1 millimeter (0.04 inch) long. The petals are white, nearly round, approximately 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) in diameter, and the plant has between 20 and 35 stamens that grow up to 4 millimeters (0.2 inch) long. Flowering takes place between September and December, and after flowering the plant produces a capsule fruit that is 3 to 4 millimeters (0.1 to 0.2 inch) in both length and width. This species grows near watercourses and in damp forest within the Yarra Valley. The Kulin people historically used its wood for making fighting implements and boomerangs.
