Melaleuca armillaris

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Bracelet honey myrtle
Melaleuca armillaris.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. armillaris
Binomial name
Melaleuca armillaris
Synonyms [1]
  • Metrosideros armillarisSol. ex Gaertn.
  • Myrtoleucodendron armillare(Sol. ex Gaertn.) Kuntze

Melaleuca armillaris, commonly known as bracelet honey myrtle, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is native to South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania in south-eastern Australia. It is a hardy, commonly grown species, often used as a fast-growing screen plant, but it also has the potential to become a weed. It has become naturalised in Western Australia and parts of Victoria. In its natural state, it grows on coastal cliffs and along estuaries.

Contents

Description

Bracelet honey myrtle ranges from a large shrub to a small weeping tree growing to 8 m (30 ft) in height. It has rough, grey fibrous bark, distinctive decumbent branching and dense foliage. The leaves are arranged in alternating pairs ("decussate") at right angles to the pairs above and below so that they appear to be in four rows along the stem. [2] (One source [3] describes the leaves as being spirally arranged and another as being alternate. [4] ) The leaves are 4.5–19 mm (0.2–0.7 in) long, 0.8–4 mm (0.03–0.2 in) wide and glabrous except when very young, linear to narrow oval in shape, with the end tapering to a distinct hook. [2] [3] [4]

The flowers are white, sometimes cream-coloured, rarely pink, and are arranged in cylindrical spikes on the sides of branches, often on older wood. The spikes are up to 50 mm (2.0 in) long and 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter and contain a large number of individual flowers. The petals are 1.5–3 mm (0.06–0.1 in) long and fall off as the flower matures. The stamens are arranged in five bundles known as staminal claws, which are 3–4.9 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long with each bundle containing eight to 18 stamens. The flowering season is mostly spring to early summer and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, 2.3–4.5 mm (0.09–0.2 in) long and about 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter, in cylindrical clusters along the branches. [2] [3] [4]

Inflorescence showing stamen bundles Melaleuca armillaris-Flowers.jpg
Inflorescence showing stamen bundles

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described in 1788 by Joseph Gaertner in De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum [5] from specimens collected by Joseph Banks during an expedition of James Cook to Australia. It was then given the name Metrosideros armillaris by Daniel Solander. [6] The species was renamed Melaleuca armillaris in 1797 by James Edward Smith in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London . [7] [8] The specific epithet (armillaris) is from the Latin armilla, meaning "a bracelet", apparently in reference to the appearance of the cylinder of fruits on the branches. [2]

The two subspecies are:

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies armillaris occurs in coastal areas south of the Manning River district in New South Wales to far eastern Victoria, some of the Bass Strait islands including Curtis Island and the far north eastern corner of Tasmania. It is also naturalised in other parts of Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, the south of South Australia and the south-west of Western Australia. [2] It is especially common on the far south coast of New South Wales. It grows naturally on coastal headlands and clifftops, often in dense heath. Subspecies akineta is only found in the Gawler Ranges of South Australia, where it grows on ridges and granite outcrops. [2] [3]

Cultivation

Melaleuca armillaris is cultivated as a fast-growing windbreak or screening plant. It is hardy and will grow in most soils and aspects, resistant to salt spray and suitable for growing under power lines. [11]

Ecology

This melaleuca is regarded as a serious environmental weed in some locations especially in Victoria. It replaces local species and increases fuel loads making areas more prone to bushfires. After a bushfire, the problem is increased because of the plants' releasing large numbers of seeds after fire. In South Australia, it is a problem in the Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills, and Kangaroo Island. In Western Australia, the problems occur in coastal areas of the south-west of that state. [12]

Bracelet honey myrtle is a preferred food of species of sawfly (order Hymenoptera, suborder Symphaptera), especially the long-tailed sawfly Pterygophorus facielongus , which can rapidly defoliate an entire tree. [13]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Melaleuca viminalis</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Melaleuca lanceolata</i> Species of plant

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<i>Melaleuca viridiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Melaleuca viminea</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Leptospermum squarrosum</i> Species of shrub

Leptospermum squarrosum, commonly known as the peach blossom tea-tree, is an upright shrub of the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to central eastern New South Wales. It has thin, firm bark, broadly lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, relatively large white or pink flowers and fruit that remain on the plant when mature.

<i>Melaleuca fulgens</i> Species of plant

Melaleuca fulgens, commonly known as the scarlet honey myrtle, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. It is notable for its showy orange, red or purple flowers, unusual foliage and fruit, and is a popular garden plant. It is a member of Melaleuca, a large and diverse genus whose members range from large trees such as M. quinquenervia, to small shrubs.

<i>Melaleuca acacioides</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca acacioides, commonly known as coastal paperbark and as lunyamad by the Bardi people, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is native to the far north of Australia and the island of New Guinea. It is closely related to Melaleuca alsophila and Melaleuca citrolens, being differentiated from them by the number of flowers in a group. In this species, they are in groups of three. It is a small to medium-sized tree, sometimes with several trunks when growing in the open. It usually grows in areas with saline soils that are regularly flooded, often near mangroves.

<i>Melaleuca decora</i> Species of tree

Melaleuca decora, commonly known as the white feather honeymyrtle, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to eastern Australia. It is a large shrub to small tree with papery bark, lance-shaped leaves and sweet-smelling, creamy-coloured flowers in summer. It grows in near-coastal forest and swamps in New South Wales and Queensland.

<i>Melaleuca nodosa</i> Species of plant

Melaleuca nodosa, commonly known as the prickly-leaved paperbark, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with narrow, sometimes needle-like leaves and profuse heads of yellow flowers as early as April or as late as January.

<i>Baeckea imbricata</i> Species of flowering plant

Baeckea imbricata, commonly known as heath myrtle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with elliptical to egg-shaped or round leaves and small white flowers with five to twelve stamens.

<i>Melaleuca incana</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca incana, commonly known as grey honey-myrtle, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia and is naturalised in the south of Victoria in Australia. It is commonly grown as a garden plant and produces large numbers of white or creamy yellow flowers, sometimes highly scented, in spring.

<i>Melaleuca incana <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> incana</i> Subspecies of flowering plant

Melaleuca incana subsp. incana, commonly known as grey honey-myrtle, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia and is naturalised in the south of Victoria in Australia. It is commonly grown as a garden plant and produces large numbers of white or creamy yellow flowers in early spring.

<i>Melaleuca pauperiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Melaleuca glauca</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca glauca, commonly known as Albany bottlebrush is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall shrub with glaucous leaves and spikes of red flowers in spring.

<i>Melaleuca salicina</i> Species of flowering plant

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Angophora costata subsp. costata is a species of medium-sized to large tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, white or creamy white flowers and cylindrical to barrel-shaped fruit. It is similar to subspecies costata but has narrower leaves and smaller fruit.

References

  1. 1 2 "Melaleuca armillaris". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  2. 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. 80. ISBN   9781922137517.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 24–25. ISBN   1876334983.
  4. 1 2 3 "Melaleuca armillaris". Plantnet: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  5. Gaertner, Joseph (1788). De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum. Vol. 1. p. 171. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  6. "Metrosideros armillaris". APNI. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  7. "Melaleuca armillaris". APNI. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  8. Smith, James Edward (1797). "Botanical Characters of Some Plants of the Natural Order of Myrti". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 3: 277. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  9. "Melaleuca armillaris subsp. armillaris". APNI. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  10. "Melaleuca armillaris subsp. akineta". APNI. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  11. Wrigley, John; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 261. ISBN   0002165759.
  12. "Bracelet honey-myrtle". Queensland government. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  13. "Sawflies". Australian Museum. Retrieved 30 April 2015.