NOTE - THIS PROTO-PAGE IS STILL IN THE EARLY STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION!

This is a small tree, growing to a height of 5-6 metres in a variety of environments (forest, rocky places, scrubland). The name mänuka rauriki means literally "small-leaved manuka", and is also applied to the kanuka (Kunzea ericoides). The alternative name Mingimingi is a "level 13" name, i.e. one apparently originating in Aotearoa.

It may well be the heath-like appearance of the känuka (evident in its botanical name, Kunzea ericoides, "the heath-like Kunzea") that inspired the alternative name, mänuka rauriki, for that tree. The känuka certainly does have small leaves, and for many decades was grouped by botanists in the same genus (Leptospermum) as the other "mänuka".The mingimingi's leaves, however, while similar in form to those of the other trees, are considerably larger than those of either of its namesakes. However, it certainly could be perceived at first glace as a känuka whose leaves have suddenly been magnified, thus making it a rather long-leaved short-leaved mänuka! Botanically, however, it belongs to a different family of plants, the heaths (Ericaceae), whereas Leptospermum and Kunzea, like the pöhutukawa, are members of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae).