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Myrtaceae
Manuka
Leptospermum scoparium
Healing, recovery, pioneer spirit.
- Family
- Myrtaceae
- Genus
- Leptospermum
- Native to
- New Zealand, Southeastern Australia
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- Shrub or small tree
- Height
- 2–5 m (6.5–16 ft)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Acidic, well-drained
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Hardiness
- 8–10
- Lifespan
- Medium-lived (20–50 years)
Did you know
- Bees that feed on manuka flowers produce the famous manuka honey—a uniquely antibacterial honey containing the compound methylglyoxal at concentrations 100x higher than ordinary honey.
- Manuka honey is used in clinical wound dressings worldwide, including by the British NHS, for treating burns, ulcers, and antibiotic-resistant infections.
- Captain Cook's botanist Joseph Banks brewed manuka leaves as a tea substitute on the Endeavour voyage in 1769, giving the plant its other name 'New Zealand tea tree.'
- The Maori name 'manuka' has so much cultural weight that New Zealand and Australia have been in a years-long trademark dispute over which country can call its honey 'manuka.'
- Manuka is a pioneer species—it's one of the first plants to colonize bare or burned ground in New Zealand, paving the way for the slow-growing native podocarp forest.
Color meanings
0
healing
1
purity
2
pioneer spirit