14/01/2024
I don't mind calling it that...
"Have you seen our native mānuka & kānuka throughout the park?"
What I understand though is that coloured tea tree is a hybrid and made in Australia. So we're a bit fast and loose with the word 'native'.
Currently 3 different kinds for sale on our Trade Me account.
Have you seen our native mānuka & kānuka throughout the park?
Both are commonly called "tea trees", this nickname comes from when early settlers would use the green leaves to make a substitute for tea. Mānuka & kānuka also have the shared quality of producing sweet nectar that provides an abundant food source for native insects in Aotearoa New Zealand. This nectar is also processed into nutritious honey! These plants fill important roles in ecological restoration, creating an easier environment for other native flora to grow in by re-vegetating barren slopes, as well as creating shade and shelter from the wind.
If you're on the lookout for mānuka & kānuka, there are a couple of key visual differences between them. While both flowers are a creamy white or pink while blooming, mānuka have larger singular flowers which spread over the bush while kānuka flowers grow smaller and in clumps. Besides this, kānuka bark is light brown and has thin stripes while mānuka bark has a reddish tinge with wider stripes. Let us know if you find either mānuka or kānuka during your next trip to Cornwall Park!
