Melaleuca pauperiflora

Melaleuca pauperiflora
Melaleuca pauperiflora leaves, flowers and fruits
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species: pauperiflora
Binomial name
Melaleuca pauperiflora
F.Muell.
subspecies
  • M.  pauperiflora subsp. fastigiata[1]
  • M.  pauperiflora subsp. mutica[2]
  • M.  pauperiflora subsp. pauperiflora[3]

Melaleuca pauperiflora, commonly known as boree,[4] is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is native to the southern parts of South Australia and Western Australia. It is distinguished by its short, thick leaves and small but profuse heads of white or cream flowers. There are three subspecies.

Description

Melaleuca pauperiflora is a large shrub or small tree growing to a height of about 6 metres (20 ft) with rough or fibrous grey bark. It leaves vary somewhat with subspecies but in general are 3–13 millimetres (0.1–0.5 in) long, 0.8–1.7 millimetres (0.03–0.07 in) wide, very narrow elliptical to almost linear in shape and almost circular in cross section. The tips of the leaves are sometimes blunt, sometimes pointed and sometimes sharp.[5]

The flowers are white to pale yellow and arranged in hemispherical heads, mostly on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering but sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. The heads are about 18 millimetres (0.7 in) in diameter and contain 3 to 10 individual flowers. The petals are 1.7–3 millimetres (0.07–0.1 in) long and fall off as the flower matures. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 10 to 18 stamens. Flowering occurs in spring and early summer and is followed by fruits which are woody, barrel-shaped capsules more or less scattered along the branches.[5][6]

Melaleuca pauperiflora growing 17 km east of Hyden

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca pauperiflora was first formally described in 1862 by Ferdinand von Mueller in "Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae"[7] from a specimen collected by George Maxwell in the Phillips Range. The specific epithet (pauperiflora) is derived from the Latin words pauper meaning “poor”[8] and flos meaning "flower",[9] referring to the specimen described by Mueller which had only a few flowers.[5]

In a review of the genus Melaleuca in 1988, Bryan Barlow and Kirsten Cowley described three subspecies of Melaleuca pauperiflora:[10]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca pauperiflora occurs in the south-west corner of Western Australia and the south of South Australia. It grows in a range of vegetation associations and soils, depending largely on subspecies.[5][6][11]

Ecology

Jewel beetles (Family Buprestidae), especially Temognatha heros are important pollinators of Melaleuca pauperiflora.[12]

Conservation

This species is classified as "not threatened" (in Western Australia) by the Western Australian government department of parks and wildlife.[11]

Uses

Horticulture

Although not of great horticultural value, it is a hardy plant and is useful as a screening plant in dry areas.[6][13]

Essential oils

Of the three forms, subspecies mutica has the most oil in the leaves. It consists mostly of monoterpenoids, especially 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol).

References

  1. 1 2 "Melaleuca pauperiflora subsp. fastigiata". APNI. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Melaleuca pauperiflora subsp. mutica". APNI. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Melaleuca pauperiflora subsp. pauperiflora". APNI. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 396. ISBN 0646402439.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 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. 240. ISBN 9781922137517.
  6. 1 2 3 Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 210–211. ISBN 1876334983.
  7. ↑ "Melaleuca pauperiflora". APNI. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "pauper". Wiktionary. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "flos". Wiktionary. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Barlow, Bryan A.; Cowley, Kirsten J. (1988). "Contributions to a revision of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae): 4–6". Australian Systematic Botany 1 (2): 95–126. doi:10.1071/SB9880095. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Melaleuca plumea Craven". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.
  12. ↑ Bellamy, Charles L. (2002). Zoological catalogue of Australia:29.3 Coleoptera, Bupestroidea. Collingwood: C.S.I.R.O. p. 324. ISBN 0643069003. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  13. ↑ Wrigley, John W.; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 267. ISBN 0002165759.

External sources

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