It is a dicot of the family Ericaceae[3] and is found in Central, Western and North-east Tasmania.

[4] Richea gunnii is a common montane shrub that grows in boggy areas.

[4] The genus Richea was named by Robert Brown in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, 555 (1810)[4][6] after Claude Antoine Gaspar Riche (1762–1797) who was a doctor and botanist on the French frigate Espérence, one of two frigates from the 1792 Bruni d’Entrecastreaux expedition.

[7] The species R. gunnii was named after Tasmanian plant collector Ronald Campbell Gunn who collected specimens from Mount Wellington and Western Mountains in 1837.

[7] Richea gunnii occurs in Tasmania, mainly on the Central Plateau and Mt Field.