Melaleuca lateriflora
| Melaleuca lateriflora | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Melaleuca |
| Species: | M. lateriflora |
| Binomial name | |
| Melaleuca lateriflora Benth | |
Melaleuca lateriflora, commonly known as Gorada, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is usually an erect shrub with oval leaves and small clusters of white flowers mainly along the older branches.
Description
Melaleuca lateriflora is a branching shrub with rough, grey-brown bark, usually growing to about 4 metres (10 ft) tall or sometimes higher with glabrous foliage except on the youngest leaves and branchlets. Its leaves are arranged alternately, are 4–12 millimetres (0.2–0.5 in) long, 3–6 millimetres (0.1–0.2 in) wide and variable in shape from linear to oval with a short pointed tip.[1][2]
The flowers are white or pale cream, arranged in heads up to 90 millimetres (4 in) long and 12 millimetres (0.5 in) in diameter with up to 15 flowers in each head. The heads occur on the previous year's wood but also at or near the ends of branches. The petals are 1.2–2.3 millimetres (0.05–0.09 in) long and fall off soon after the flower opens. The stamens are in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 6 to 13 stamens. The flowers mainly appear between September and January and are followed by the fruits which are woody capsules 3–5.5 millimetres (0.1–0.2 in) long and 4–5 millimetres (0.2–0.2 in) in diameter with the sepals remaining as teeth on the capsules.[1][3]
Taxonomy and naming
Melaleuca lateriflora was first described in 1867 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis.[4]The specific epithet (lateriflora) is "in reference to the inflorescences being inserted on the branchlets and branches below the leaves".[1]
Distribution and habitat
Melaleuca lateriflora occurs from the Yuna and Mullewa districts east to the Coolgardie district and south to the Stirling Range[1] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Murchison and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.[5] It grows in sandy and clayey soils on flats, floodplains and swampy areas.[6]
External links
- Mueller, Ferdinand (1866). Flora Australiensis, volume 3. London. p. 136. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 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. 216. ISBN 9781922137517.
- ↑ "Melaleuca lateriflora subsp lateriflora". Government of Western Australia, department of water. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
- ↑ Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed. ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 160–161. ISBN 1876334983.
- ↑ "Melaleuca lateriflora". tropicos. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
- ↑ "Melaleuca lateriflora". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.
- ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 394. ISBN 0646402439.