Tickbush

Kunzea ambigua, the tickbush or white kunzea, is an evergreen shrub in the Myrtaceae endemic to coastal and near-coastal heathland, sclerophyll woodland, and rocky slopes of southeastern Australia, including Tasmania, where it often forms dense thickets. Plants typically reach 2 to 4 metres tall, with arching, slender, hairy young branches becoming smooth and grey with age. The alternate, crowded leaves are linear to narrow-elliptic, 5 to 12 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide, dark green, faintly aromatic when crushed, with prominent oil glands and a recurved margin. Profuse masses of small, white to cream, five-petalled flowers, each about 5 to 8 mm across with conspicuous projecting stamens, are clustered along the upper branches in spring and early summer, giving the bush a frothy snow-like appearance. The fruit is a small, woody capsule about 2 to 3 mm wide containing minute seeds. The foliage yields an essential oil rich in α-pinene, 1,8-cineole, viridiflorol, and globulol.