| Prickly-leaved paperbark | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Melaleuca |
| Species: | M. styphelioides |
| Binomial name | |
| Melaleuca styphelioides Sm.[1] |
|
Melaleuca styphelioides, known as the Prickly-leaved paperbark or Prickly Paperbark, is a plant native to eastern Australia.
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It is a small to medium sized tree up to 20 metres high with a dense, rounded canopy and drooping branchlets.[2][3] The spongy bark is white or light brown and peels of in large strips.[3]
The sessile leaves are 7 to 15 mm long and 2.5 to 6 mm wide.[2] These are slightly twisted, have sharply-pointed tips, and are arranged alternately on the branchlets.[3]
Flowers appear in summer in cream or white cylindrical "bottlebrush" spikes which are 2 to 5 cm long and 1 to 2 cm in diameter. Often new growth appears at the end of the spikes.[3] Following flowering, grey-brown, woody capsules appear in clusters along the branchlets. These are ovoid, stalkless and 3 to 4 mm in diameter [3]
The species was first formerly described in 1797 by botanist James Edward Smith in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London from plant material collected by David Burton near Port Jackson.[1]
The species occurs along stream banks or other moist situations, mostly in coastal areas from Nowra in New South Wales and northwards in to Queensland.[2]
The species thrives in a variety of situations ranging from swampy to hot and dry.[4] It is used as a street tree in Sydney, with good examples in Campsie, an inner southwestern suburb.
Due to its deep-rooting characteristics, lawn can be grown under its canopy.[4]