Kunzea acicularis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with a few erect stems, small and groups of three to five, pink to mauve flowers. It is a rare, recently described species only known from a small area near Ravensthorpe.
Kunzea acicularis is a shrub which grows to a height of up to 2sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1, with a few erect, irregularly-branched stems which are covered with fine hairs when young. The leaves are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, densely hairy, NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long, about 2sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide, with a stalk less than 1sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long.[1] [2]
Three to five pink to mauve flowers are arranged in groups on the ends of branches. The flowers are surrounded by hairy, narrow triangular bracts and bracteoles about 3sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and 1sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. The sepals are about 2sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and hairy and the five petals are NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and almost round. There are about 26 stamens which are usually longer than the petals and a style NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long. Flowering occurs in October and November and is followed by fruit which are hairy urn-shaped capsules with the sepals attached.
This species was first formally described in 2007 by Hellmut Toelken and Gil Craig and the description was published in Nuytsia.[3] The specific epithet (acicularis) is a Latin word meaning "like a needle"[4] referring to the needle-like bracts.
This kunzea grows in mallee and heath on hills and slopes north-east of Ravensthorpe in the Esperance Plains biogeographic region.
Kunzea acicularis is classified as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife and an interim recovery plan has been prepared.