Melaleuca torquata

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Melaleuca torquata
Melaleuca torquata.jpg
Melaleuca torquata foliage and flowers
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. torquata
Binomial name
Melaleuca torquata
Barlow

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.

Contents

fruit Melaleuca torquata fruit.jpg
fruit
habit near Elverdton Road east of Ravensthorpe Melaleuca torquata habit.jpg
habit near Elverdton Road east of Ravensthorpe

Description

Melaleuca torquata is a densely foliaged shrub with rough bark, growing to about 2.5 m (8 ft) tall. Its leaves are usually arranged alternately and are 4.5–12.8 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long and 1.2–2.5 mm (0.05–0.1 in) wide, narrow oval to egg-shaped with a prominent mid-vein producing a keel on the lower surface of the leaf. The end of the leaf tapers to a very fine point making the shrub very prickly. [1]

The stamens of the flowers are white but the petals are pink or red. The flowers are arranged in heads or short spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. The heads are up to 18 mm (0.7 in) in diameter and contain 4 to 11 individual flowers. The petals are 1.5–1.8 mm (0.06–0.07 in) long and fall off as the flower ages. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flowers and there are 3 to 13 stamens per bundle. The main flowering period is in September and October and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules 3–4.5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long forming loose clusters along the stems. [1] [2]

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca torquata was first formally described in 1988 by Bryan Barlow in Australian Systematic Botany. [3] [4] The specific epithet (torquata) is from the Latin words torquatus meaning "adorned with a neck chain or collar" [5] in reference to the top of the fruits which looks like a crown. [1]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca torquata occurs in and between the Katanning, Stirling Range and Cape Arid districts [1] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee biogeographic regions. [6] It grows in clayey or sandy loam on undulating plains and in winter-wet depressions. [7]

Conservation

Melaleuca torquata is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. [6]

Related Research Articles

Melaleuca penicula is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a rare species only known from the Fitzgerald River National Park and resembles Melaleuca eximia with its spikes of red flowers but its leaves and stamen bundles are different.

Melaleuca eulobata is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the west coast of Western Australia. It is a shrub resembling Melaleuca campanae with its heads of pink flowers in late spring but is distinguished from that species by its sepals - in M. campane these are reduced to a ring of tissue but M. eulobata has distinct calyx lobes.

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

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

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

Melaleuca johnsonii is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is similar to Melaleuca thapsina with its cylindrical leaves with prickly tips and usually yellow heads of flowers but is distinguished from it by its shorter leaves and papery sepals.

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

Melaleuca longistaminea is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with small, prickly, heart-shaped leaves and heads of yellow to green flowers on the sides of the stems in winter and spring. It is similar to Melaleuca spectabilis which was formerly included in this species but has smaller flowerheads and narrower leaves.

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

Melaleuca podiocarpa is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub with prickly foliage and small heads of white flowers mostly hidden within the foliage.

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

Melaleuca ryeae is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub, closely resembling Melaleuca amydra with its small leaves and profuse heads of pink to purple flowers but M.amydra has narrower leaves and does not have spherical clusters of fruits.

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

Melaleuca thapsina is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prickly shrub with fibrous or papery bark, yellow to cream coloured flowers and tightly packed cylinders of fruiting capsules.

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

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.

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

Melaleuca apostiba is a shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It was first described in 1990 by Kirsten Cowley and remains a poorly known species. It resembles Melaleuca lateritia except for its hairy leaves and flower structures as well as its leaf shape and size.

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

Melaleuca camptoclada is a shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It was first described in 1990 in a review of the genus Melaleuca when the species Melaleuca laxiflora at that time was found to comprise ten species. Two of those species were new - M. camptoclada and M. ctenoides.

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

Melaleuca cardiophylla, commonly known as tangling melaleuca or umbrella bush is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the west and south-west of Western Australia. It is a dense, prickly shrub with heart-shaped leaves, stamens that are joined in unusually long claw-like bundles, and distinctive, warty fruits.

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

Melaleuca haplantha is a shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It was first described as a new species in 1988 when Bryan Barlow undertook a review of Melaleuca cuticularis and found it to include 13 separate species.

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

Melaleuca spectabilis is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It was formerly known as a subspecies of Melaleuca longistaminea. It is a low, prickly shrub with yellow or lime-green flowers in spring and early summer.

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

Melaleuca teuthidoides is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a shrub with rough bark and heads of white flowers on the ends of its branches in spring and early summer.

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

Melaleuca ulicoides is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a small, densely foliaged shrub with small heads of white or cream flowers in spring. It is closely related to Melaleuca marginata but can be distinguished from it by the number and character of leaf veins.

Melaleuca calcicola is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It was formerly known as a subspecies of Melaleuca apodocephala but was reassessed in 2010 and raised to species status. Its branches are corky, the leaves pointed although not prickly and the flowers are creamy white, tipped with yellow.

Melaleuca genialis is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a rare species, known from one nature reserve. It is similar to Melaleuca tinkeri, mainly differing from it in having hairy leaves and petals.

References

  1. 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. 363. ISBN   9781922137517.
  2. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 294–295. ISBN   1876334983.
  3. Barlow, BA; Cowley, KJ (1988). "Contributions to a revision of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae): 4–6". Australian Systematic Botany. 1 (2): 95. doi:10.1071/SB9880095 . Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  4. "Melaleuca torquata". APNI. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 808.
  6. 1 2 "Melaleuca torquata". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  7. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 398. ISBN   0646402439.