Melaleuca lasiandra

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Melaleuca lasiandra
Melaleuca lasiandra flowers.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. lasiandra
Binomial name
Melaleuca lasiandra
Synonyms [1]
  • Melaleuca loguei W.Fitzg.
  • Myrtoleucodendron lasiandrum(F.Muell.) Kuntze

Melaleuca lasiandra is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to the northern inland of Australia. Its foliage is covered with soft, silky hairs giving the leaves a silvery-grey appearance and even the filaments of the stamens are hairy.

Contents

Description

Melaleuca lasiandra is a large shrub or small tree growing to 8 metres (26 ft) high with white or grey papery bark. The leaves have a narrow oval shape, a small pointed end and are 10–50 millimetres (0.39–1.97 in) long and 1.5–10 millimetres (0.059–0.394 in) wide. They are also very densely covered with fine hairs so that they appear silvery-grey. [2]

The flowers are yellowish green or white, and are arranged in heads at the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering, as well as in the upper leaf axils. Each head contains between 2 and 11 groups of flowers in threes and is up to 22 millimetres (0.87 in) in diameter. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 6 to 20 stamens which have hairy stalks. Flowering occurs intermittently throughout the year but mostly in winter. The fruit which follow are woody capsules with the sepals forming teeth at first but are eroded later to undulations around the edge of the cup-shaped capsules. The capsules are 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 in) long and form loose clusters along the branches. [2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca lasiandra was first formally described in 1862 by Ferdinand von Mueller in " Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae ". [4] [5] The specific epithet (lasiandra) means "shaggy or woolly male", [6] in reference to the hairy staminal filaments. [2]

Habit Melaleuca lasiandra tree.jpg
Habit

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs in the tropical north-west of Australia including the northern half of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the central-west of Queensland. It grows in a variety of soils and vegetation associations but is common in the depressions between sand dunes. [2] [3] [7]

Conservation status

Melaleuca lasiandra is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. [8]

Use in horticulture

Melaleuca lasiandra is a hardy shrub for arid areas, requiring full sun and good drainage. [9]

Related Research Articles

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Melaleuca dissitiflora, commonly known as creek tea–tree, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to Australia. It occurs in the drier parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. It grows in places like sandy creek beds and rocky gorges but it may have potential as a more productive source of "tea tree" oil than the usual Melaleuca alternifolia. It is closely related and very similar to Melaleuca linophylla with its papery bark, narrow leaves and loose spikes of creamy-white flowers but its flowers are larger, the stamens are longer and there are more stamens per bundle than in that species.

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

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

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<i>Melaleuca eleuterostachya</i> Species of shrub

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

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<i>Melaleuca glaberrima</i> Species of shrub

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

Melaleuca megacephala is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is native to the south-west of Western Australia. It is distinguished by its large, hemispherical heads of yellow and white flowers on the ends of the branches and the overlapping brown bracts under them.

Calothamnus blepharospermus is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the west coast of Western Australia. It is an upright, spreading, bushy shrub with red flowers in summer. It grows in sandy soil in scrubby country called kwongan.

<i>Calothamnus longissimus</i> Species of flowering plant

Calothamnus longissimus is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, spreading shrub with unusually long, fine leaves and which produces clusters of red flowers in spring.

Calothamnus microcarpus is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, either compact or spreading shrub with flat leaves and clusters of red flowers in spring.

Calothamnus oldfieldii is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, spreading shrub with needle-shaped leaves and clusters of red flowers with 5 petals and 5 stamen bundles.

<i>Eremaea acutifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremaea acutifolia, commonly known as rusty eremaea, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with needle-like leaves and which bears orange-coloured flowers on short side branches and fruits with a surface that is rough to the touch.

<i>Eremaea violacea</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremaea violacea is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is low, spreading shrub with narrow, prickly leaves and which bears violet-coloured flowers on short side branches.

<i>Phymatocarpus maxwellii</i> Species of flowering plant

Phymatocarpus maxwellii is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It resembles many small species of Melaleuca, mainly differing in the way its anthers are attached at the top of the stamens. In Phymatocarpus they are attached at their base and open at the other end through two slits. It is a shrub with many small heads of pink to purple flowers, often covering the plant for several weeks in October.

<i>Beaufortia puberula</i> Species of flowering plant

Beaufortia puberula, commonly known as hairy-leaved beaufortia, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a shrub growing to a height of about 2 m (7 ft) with hairy young leaves and heads of hairy, pink or red flowers during most of the year.

References

  1. 1 2 "Melaleuca lasiandra". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 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. 214. ISBN   9781922137517.
  3. 1 2 Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 156–157. ISBN   1876334983.
  4. "Melaleuca lasiandra". APNI. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  5. Mueller, Ferdinand von (1862). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. Melbourne: Victorian government printer. p. 115. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  6. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 235. ISBN   9780958034180.
  7. Wickens, Gerald E. (1998). Ecophysiology of economic plants in arid and semi-arid lands : with 12 tables. Berlin: Springer. p. 71. ISBN   3540521712 . Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  8. "Melaleuca lasiandra". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  9. Wrigley, John W.; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 264. ISBN   0002165759.