Melaleuca pallescens | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Myrtales |
Family: | Myrtaceae |
Genus: | Melaleuca |
Species: | M. pallescens |
Binomial name | |
Melaleuca pallescens | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Melaleuca tamariscina subsp. pallescens(Byrnes) Barlow Contents |
Melaleuca pallescens is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the state of Queensland in Australia. It has hard, furrowed bark and very small leaves that have the lower part of their upper surface pressed against the branches of the plant.
Melaleuca pallescens is a bushy shrub or small tree growing to about 4 m (10 ft) tall. Its leaves are arranged alternately, only 1.3–5.5 mm (0.05–0.2 in) long and 0.7–1.2 mm (0.03–0.05 in) wide, glabrous, narrow egg-shaped with the lower part of the upper surface touching the stem and with a sharp point on the end. [1]
The flowers are arranged in spikes at the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering or sometimes in the upper leaf axils. The spikes contain 3 to 12 groups of flowers in threes and are up to 18 mm (0.7 in) in diameter and 15–20 mm (0.6–0.8 in) long. The flowers are pink or mauve when they open but fade rapidly to white. The petals are a darker shade, 1.5–1.6 mm (0.06–0.06 in) long but fall off as the flower ages. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flowers and there are 5 to 9 stamens per bundle. Spring is the main flowering season and the flowers are followed by fruit which are woody capsules 2.5–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and scattered along the branches. [1] [3]
Melaleuca pallescens was first formally described in 1984 by Norman Byrnes in Austrobaileya as a new species. [4] The specific epithet (pallescens) is a Latin word meaning "ashen" or "wan" [5] : 382 with the suffix -escens meaning "becoming", [5] : 135 hence "becoming ashen", referring to the pale-coloured flowers. [1]
Melaleuca pallescens occurs in the eastern half of Queensland growing in heavy clay soils, near streams and other wet areas. [1] [3]
Melaleuca leucadendra, commonly known as weeping paperbark, long-leaved paperbark or white paperbark is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is widespread in northern Australia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and the Torres Strait Islands. It is a tree, sometimes growing to more than 20 m (70 ft) with a trunk covered with thick, white, papery bark and weeping thinner branches. It has a long flowering season, can flower at almost any time of the year and is often grown as a tree in parks and on roadsides. It was the first melaleuca to be described and was described from a specimen growing in Indonesia.
Melaleuca lanceolata commonly known as black paperbark, moonah, Rottnest Island teatree and western black tea tree is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to Australia where it occurs in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. It is a densely foliaged tree with rough bark, which flowers prolifically in summer.
Melaleuca trichostachya is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to inland northern New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia. It is a small tree, similar to the commonly cultivated Melaleuca styphelioides, with its prickly foliage and fluffy spikes of white or cream flowers but there are differences in the leaf arrangement and fruiting capsules.
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.
Melaleuca recurva, commonly known as Tinaroo bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to higher areas of far northern Queensland in Australia.. It is a shrub with spikes of red flowers tipped with yellow in most months of the year and which often has leaves with their edges curled under.
Melaleuca campanae is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, woody shrub similar to Melaleuca eulobata, with a low, spreading habit and pinkish flower heads but it has longer, pointed leaves and lacks distinct sepals which instead form a ring of tissue around the edge of the flowers.
Melaleuca clavifolia is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub similar to Melaleuca tinkeri, with "pom-pom" heads of pinkish flowers and soft, silky hairs on the new growth but it has larger flower heads and its leaves are shorter, more club-shaped and have less distinct oil glands.
Melaleuca squamophloia is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the black soil plains of south eastern Queensland in Australia. Like its close relative Melaleuca styphelioides, it is a small, erect tree with prickly leaves and spikes of cream or white flowers but its bark is hard rather than papery and the leaves have fewer veins than that species.
Melaleuca strobophylla is a shrub or small tree in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has papery bark, sharply pointed, twisted leaves and rather long spikes of creamy white flowers in summer.
Melaleuca thymifolia, commonly known as thyme honey-myrtle, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is native to eastern Australia. It is often noticed in spring, with its attractive, purple flowers and is one of the most commonly cultivated melaleucas. A fragrant shrub, it usually grows to about 1.0 m (3 ft) tall, has corky bark and slender, wiry stems.
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.
Melaleuca decussata, commonly known as cross-leaf honey-myrtle or totem poles, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae native to South Australia and both native and naturalised in Victoria. It is an adaptable shrub, grown in many parts of Australia for its attractive foliage but is regarded as an environmental weed in parts of Victoria.
Melaleuca minutifolia, commonly known as teatree is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to northern Australia. As suggested by its name, it has tiny leaves but it also produces creamy white to white flowers throughout the year in its native range.
Melaleuca arcana is a small tree or large shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia. It has papery bark and small heads of white flowers in summer.
Melaleuca groveana, commonly known as Grove's paperbark is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. It is an uncommon species with relatively large heads of white flowers in spring, the styles of which are significantly longer than the stamens.
Melaleuca parvistaminea is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the states of New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. It has hard, rough bark, cream coloured flowers and leaves in whorls of three around the stems.
Melaleuca saligna is a shrub or tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae) and is endemic to Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. It is a small tree with papery bark on the trunk, pendulous branches and white to greenish-yellow flowers between February and November. This species should not be confused with Callistemon salignus. If that species were to be moved to the genus Melaleuca, as proposed by some authors, its name would become Melaleuca salicina. Melaleuca saligna has its stamens arranged in bundles; the stamens of Callistemon salignus/Melaleuca salicina are all free.
Melaleuca stenostachya, commonly known as fibre-barked teatree or straight teatree is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is native to the Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia, the gulf country of the Northern Territory and the south of Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to Melaleuca dealbata but can be distinguished from that species by the wide separation of the flowers in the inflorescence.
Melaleuca torquata is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a prickly shrub whose leaves have a distinct mid-vein on the lower surface and which has heads of pinkish white flowerheads in early spring.
Melaleuca lophocoracorum is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in the Ravenshoe State Forest, near Ravenshoe in Queensland. It is a newly described (2013) species of shrub or small tree with twisted leaves and spikes of cream-coloured flowers in summer. It is similar to Melaleuca squamophloia and Melaleuca styphelioides.