Melaleuca nodosa

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Prickly-leaved paperbark
Melaleuca nodosa.JPG
Melaleuca nodosa
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. nodosa
Binomial name
Melaleuca nodosa
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Callistemon juniperinus(Rchb. ex Spreng.) Heynh.
    • Melaleuca juniperina(Rchb. ex Spreng.) Sieber ex Rchb.
    • Melaleuca juniperoides DC.
    • Melaleuca nodosa var. tenuifolia(DC.) Cheel ex A.R.Penfold
    • Melaleuca tenuifoliaDC.
    • Metrosideros gracilis K.D.Koenig & Sims
    • Metrosideros juniperinaRchb. ex Spreng.
    • Metrosideros juniperoidesRchb. ex DC.
    • Metrosideros nodosaSol. ex Gaertn.
    • Metrosideros pungensRchb.
    • Myrtoleucodendron nodosum(Sol. ex Gaertn.) Kuntze

Melaleuca nodosa, commonly known as the prickly-leaved paperbark, [2] 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.

Contents

Description

Melaleuca nodosa is a shrub or small tree, sometimes growing to 10 m (30 ft) tall with thick, papery bark. The stiff linear leaves are rather variable in size and shape, but usually linear to almost terete, 10–40 mm (0.4–2 in) long and 0.5–1.5 mm (0.02–0.06 in) wide, tapering to a sharp tip. [2] [3] [4]

The flowers are white to yellow and arranged in dense heads or short spikes on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering and sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. Each head is up to 30 mm (1 in) in diameter and contains up to 20 groups of flowers in threes. The petals are 1.8–2.3 mm (0.07–0.09 in) long and fall off as the flower matures. There are five bundles of stamens around the flower, each with 7 to 10 stamens. Flowering occurs from September to November, most prevalent in October but often at other times of the year. The fruit that follow are woody, cup-shaped capsules, 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long, 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) wide, usually in tight, globular clusters along the stems. [3] [4] [2] [5] [6]

Habit near Booral Melaleuca nodosa habit (Booral).jpg
Habit near Booral
Fruit Melaleuca nodosa (fruit).jpg
Fruit

Taxonomy

German botanist Joseph Gaertner was the first to formally describe the prickly-leaved paperbark from material in the collection of Joseph Banks, as Metrosideros nodosa, in his De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum in 1788. [7] [8] James Edward Smith gave it its current binomial name in 1797. [9] [10] The specific epithet (nodosa) is from the Latin nodosus meaning "knotty" or "knobby" [11] possibly referring to the shape of the fruiting clusters. [3]

Distribution

Melaleuca nodosa occurs on the coast and tablelands of Queensland and New South Wales from the Blackdown Tableland National Park south to Campbelltown in the Sydney Basin. [3] It grows on alluvial soils, from sandy through shale- to clay-based, as well as heathlands, and can form dense stands (thickets). Areas it grows in often have poor drainage. Associated heathland species include bracelet honey myrtle ( Melaleuca armillaris ), heath banksia ( Banksia ericifolia ), smooth-barked apple ( Angophora costata ) and red bloodwood ( Corymbia gummifera ), and woodland species scribbly gum ( Eucalyptus sclerophylla ), Parramatta red gum ( E. parramattensis ), narrow-leaved apple ( Angophora bakeri ), and white feather honeymyrtle ( Melaleuca decora ). [6] Its presence in wallum heathland can indicate a patch of saltier soil. [12]

Ecology

Native bees, honeybees and possibly beetles and flies pollinate the flowers of this species. [6] Melaleuca nodosa has been recorded as a host for the mistletoe species Amyema congener , A. gaudichaudii , Dendrophthoe curvata and D. vitellina . [13]

Use in cultivation

Melaleuca nodosa adapts readily to cultivation and grows best in full sun and with extra moisture. Although it is not widely grown, [5] it has potential as a hedging plant, [14] including in areas exposed to salt spray. [15]

Related Research Articles

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

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.

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

Melaleuca quinquenervia, commonly known as the broad-leaved paperbark, paper bark tea tree, punk tree or niaouli, is a small- to medium-sized tree of the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It grows as a spreading tree up to 20 m (70 ft) tall, with its trunk covered by a white, beige and grey thick papery bark. The grey-green leaves are egg-shaped, and cream or white bottlebrush-like flowers appear from late spring to autumn. It was first formally described in 1797 by the Spanish naturalist Antonio José Cavanilles.

<i>Angophora costata</i> Species of tree

Angophora costata, commonly known as Sydney red gum, rusty gum or smooth-barked apple, is a species of tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. Reaching 30 m (100 ft) in height, the species has distinctive smooth bark that is pinkish or orange-brown when new and fades to grey with age. Its lance-shaped leaves are arranged in opposite pairs along the stems, with white or creamy white flowers appearing from October to December. The flower buds are usually arranged in groups of three, followed by ribbed, oval or bell-shaped fruit.

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

Melaleuca linariifolia is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is commonly known as snow-in-summer, narrow-leaved paperbark, flax-leaved paperbark and in the language of the Gadigal people as budjur. A hardy plant, it flowers prolifically in late spring or summer, making it a popular garden shrub or small tree in temperate places. Melaleuca trichostachya is a similar species but its leaves are arranged differently and the fruits have projecting valves.

<i>Corymbia gummifera</i> Species of plant

Corymbia gummifera, commonly known as red bloodwood, is a species of tree, rarely a mallee, that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.

<i>Angophora hispida</i> Species of tree

Angophora hispida grows as a mallee, or as a tree to about 7 m (25 ft) in height. A. hispida's small size, especially when compared to its Angophora and Eucalyptus relatives, leads to it being known by the common name dwarf apple. It is native to a relatively small patch of central New South Wales – from just south of Sydney up to the Gosford area. The plant's leaves are sessile (stalk-less) and hug the stem with heart-shaped bases. Its previous name – A. cordifolia – referred to these cordate leaves. Another distinctive feature are the red bristly hairs that cover the branchlets, flower bases and new growth. This leads to the specific epithet hispida.

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

Melaleuca viminalis, commonly known as weeping bottlebrush, or creek bottlebrush is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. It is a multi-trunked, large shrub or tree with hard bark, often pendulous foliage and large numbers of bright red bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer. It is possibly the most commonly cultivated melaleuca in gardens and its cultivars are often grown in many countries.

<i>Lambertia formosa</i> Shrub of the family Proteaceae, endemic to New South Wales, Australia

Lambertia formosa, commonly known as mountain devil, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae, endemic to New South Wales, Australia. First described in 1798 by English botanist James Edward Smith, it is the type species of the small genus Lambertia. It is generally found in heathland or open forest, growing in sandstone-based soils. It grows as a multistemmed shrub to around 2 m (7 ft) with a woody base known as a lignotuber, from which it regrows after bushfire. It has stiff narrow leaves, and the pink to red flowerheads, made up of seven individual tubular flowers, generally appear in spring and summer. It gains its common name from the horned woody follicles, which were used to make small devil-figures.

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

Melaleuca viridiflora, commonly known as broad-leaved paperbark, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is native to woodlands, swamps and streams in monsoonal areas of northern Australia and New Guinea. It is usually a small tree with an open canopy, papery bark and spikes of cream, yellow, green or red flowers.

<i>Angophora floribunda</i> Species of tree

Angophora floribunda, commonly known as the rough-barked apple, is a common woodland and forest tree of the family Myrtaceae native to Eastern Australia. Reaching 30 m (100 ft) high, it is a large tree with fibrous bark and cream-white flowers that appear over the Austral summer. It grows on alluvial soils on floodplains and along watercourses. Much of the land it grew on has been cleared for agriculture.

<i>Xylomelum pyriforme</i> Species of plant in the family Proteaceae native to eastern Australia

Xylomelum pyriforme, commonly known as the woody pear, is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae native to eastern Australia. It grows as a large shrub or small tree to five metres high.

<i>Eucalyptus eugenioides</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus eugenioides, commonly known as the thin-leaved stringybark or white stringybark, is a species of tree endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small to medium-sized tree with rough stringy bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, Flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, white flowers and hemispherical fruit.

<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>Persoonia myrtilloides</i> Species of flowering plant

Persoonia myrtilloides, commonly known as myrtle geebung, is a plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is an erect to spreading shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves and yellow flowers in groups of up to forty on a rachis up to 170 mm (6.7 in) long.

<i>Amyema congener</i> Species of mistletoe

Amyema congener, commonly known as the variable mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae from eastern Australia. It is found on members of the genera Allocasuarina, Acacia and some exotic species.

<i>Petrophile pulchella</i> Species of shrub of the family Proteaceae found in eastern Australia

Petrophile pulchella, commonly known as conesticks, is a common shrub of the family Proteaceae and is found in eastern Australia. The leaves are divided with needle-shaped but soft pinnae, the flowers silky-hairy, cream-coloured and arranged in oval heads and the fruit are arranged in oval heads. Conesticks grows on shallow sandstone soils, often in open forest or heathlands near the coast. It is also occasionally seen on the adjacent ranges.

<i>Goodenia paniculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Goodenia paniculata, commonly known as branched goodenia, is a species of plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a short-lived herb with egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves with toothed edges and racemes of yellow flowers.

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

Melaleuca pallida, commonly known as lemon bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an upright shrub with thin, spreading branches, silvery new growth and pale yellow, sometimes pinkish bottlebrush flowers.

<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>Leptospermum arachnoides</i> Australian species of plant

Leptospermum arachnoides, commonly known as the spidery tea-tree, is a species of shrub that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough bark, crowded linear to lance-shaped leaves with a sharp point on the end, white flowers and hairy fruit.

References

  1. 1 2 "Melaleuca nodosa". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 G. Wilson. "New South Wales Flora Online: Melaleuca nodosa". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia.
  3. 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. 253. ISBN   9781922137517.
  4. 1 2 Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 202–203. ISBN   1876334983.
  5. 1 2 Walters, Brian (February 2010). "Melaleuca nodosa". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) website. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Benson, Doug; McDougall, Lyn (1998). "Ecology of Sydney plant species:Part 6 Dicotyledon family Myrtaceae" (PDF). Cunninghamia. 5 (4): 809–987.
  7. Gaertner, Joseph (1788). De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum (Volume 1). p. 172. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  8. "Metrosideros nodosa". APNI. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  9. "Melaleuca nodosa". APNI. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  10. Smith, James Edward (1797). "Botanical Characters of Some Plants of the Natural Order of Myrti". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 3: 276–277. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  11. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 560.
  12. Bryan, W. (1973). "A review of research findings concerned with pastoral development on the wallum of south-eastern Queensland" (PDF). Tropical Grasslands. 7 (2): 175–94.
  13. Downey, Paul O. (1998). "An inventory of host species for each aerial mistletoe species (Loranthaceae and Viscaceae) in Australia" (PDF). Cunninghamia. 5 (3): 685–720.
  14. Oakman, Harry (1995). Harry Oakman's What Flowers When: The Complete Guide to Flowering Times in Tropical and Subtropical Gardens. Univ. of Queensland Press. p. 129. ISBN   0702228397.
  15. Wrigley, John W.; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2 ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 267. ISBN   0002165759.