Melaleuca cliffortioides

Melaleuca cliffortioides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species: M. cliffortioides
Binomial name
Melaleuca cliffortioides
Diels

Melaleuca cliffortioides is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, prickly shrub very similar to Melaleuca podiocarpa but with fewer stamens in the flowers.

Description

Melaleuca cliffortioides grows to a height of about 1.6 metres (5 ft). Its branchlets are densely covered with soft, fine hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately, 4–9 millimetres (0.2–0.4 in) long, 1.6–2.5 millimetres (0.06–0.1 in) wide, narrow oval to egg-shaped, tapering to a sharp point and have many prominent oil glands.

The plant flowers profusely but the flowers occur singly within the foliage of the shrub and are sweetly scented.[1] The petals are 2.2–2.8 millimetres (0.087–0.11 in) long and fall off as the flower opens. The stamens are in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 8 to 13 stamens. (In Melaleuca podiocarpa there are 30 to 45 stamens per bundle.) The main flowering season is in September and the fruits which follow are woody capsules 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 in) long.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca cliffortioides was first described in 1905 by Ludwig Diels in Botanische jahrbucher fur systematik, pflanzengeschichte und pflanzengeographie under the heading Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis:Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Pflanzen Westaustraliens, ihrer Verbreitung und ihrer Lebensverhaltnisse ("Contributions to the knowledge of the plants of West Australia, where they are found and their conditions of existence").[4] The specific epithet (cliffortioides) is a "reference to a perceived similarity between this species and a species of Cliffortia".[3] (Cliffortia is a genus in the subfamily Rosoideae of the rose family Rosaceae.)

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca cliffortioides is found from the Ravensthorpe district to the Norseman district.[3] in the Coolgardie, Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions.[5] It grows in sandy on rocky slopes and on undulating plains.[6]

Conservation

This species is classified as "not threatened" under the conservation code of the government of Western Australia.[5]

References

  1. Corrick, Margaret G.; Fuhrer, Bruce A. (2009). Wildflowers of southern Western Australia (3rd ed.). [Kenthurst, N.S.W.]: Rosenberg Pub. p. 132. ISBN 9781877058844. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  2. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed. ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. p. 220. ISBN 1876334983.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Brophy, Joseph J.; Craven, Lyndley A.; Doran, John C. (2013). Melaleucas : their botany, essential oils and uses. Canberra: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. p. 123. ISBN 9781922137517.
  4. "Melaleuca cliffortioides". APNI. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Melaleuca cliffortioides". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.
  6. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 392. ISBN 0646402439.

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