Manuka Flowers on White Tea Towel bypennyroyal

Mānuka or kahikātoa (Leptospermum scoparium), called ‘tea tree’ by Captain Cook, is a rather variable plant ranging from flat creeping forms and small shrubs to tall trees (up to 10 m tall). Although variable, all the forms of this species are unified by their sharp-tipped leaves, large, solitary white or pink-flushed flowers, with distinctive short, dark red stamens, and persistent greyish-white nut-like capsules. Mānuka/kahikātoa plants are sometimes covered with sooty mould, a black fungus that feeds on the honeydew produced by scale insects.