Melaleuca leiocarpa

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

Melaleuca leiocarpa is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is native to arid areas in parts of South Australia and Western Australia. It is an erect or branching shrub distinguished by its prickly foliage and, for a melaleuca, unusually large, smooth, roughly spherical fruits.

Description

Melaleuca leiocarpa sometimes grows to a height of 5 metres (20 ft) and has rough, furrowed, dark grey or grey-black bark. The leaves are spirally arranged, 6–21.8 millimetres (0.2–0.9 in) long and 1.5–5 millimetres (0.06–0.2 in) wide, narrow lance-shaped or linear with a very short stalk and tapering to a sharp point.

Flowers occur at or near the ends of the branches in clusters of up to 3 to 14 individual flowers, the clusters sometimes reaching 15 millimetres (0.6 in) in length and 28 millimetres (1 in) in diameter. The stamens are yellow-lemon in colour, in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 11 to 22 stamens. Flowers usually appear between August and December and are followed by spherical woody capsules, 7–9 millimetres (0.3–0.4 in) diameter.[1][2]

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca leiocarpa was first described in 1876 by Ferdinand von Mueller in "Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae".[3] The specific epithet (leiocarpa) is derived from the Greek words λεῖος (leîos) meaning “smooth”[4] and Καρπός (Karpós) meaning "fruit"[5] "in reference to the fruiting hypanthia of this species being distinctively smooth."[2]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca leiocarpa occurs in the Gawler Ranges and northern Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is also found in arid areas of eastern Western Australia[1] including the Avon Wheatbelt, Central Ranges, Coolgardie, Gascoyne, Geraldton Sandplains, Great Victoria Desert, Murchison, Pilbara and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.[6] It grows in rocky lateritic soils and red sand on hillsides, outcrops and sandplains.[7]

Uses

Horticulture

This species is rarely cultivated but is a showy shrub in full flower and is suited to most soils.[1] It is hardy in well-drained conditions but requires full sun.[8][1]

Essential oils

The oils from the leaves of this tree are mostly monoterpenoids.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed. ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 166–167. ISBN 1876334983.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 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. 221. ISBN 9781922137517.
  3. ↑ "Melaleuca leiocarpa". APNI. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "leio-". Wiktionary. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "karpos". Wiktionary. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Melaleuca leiocarpa". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.
  7. ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 395. ISBN 0646402439.
  8. ↑ Wrigley, John W.; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed. ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 265. ISBN 0002165759.

External sources