Melaleuca villosisepala

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Melaleuca villosisepala
Melaleuca villosisepala 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. villosisepala
Binomial name
Melaleuca villosisepala
Habit about 40km east of Ravensthorpe Melaleuca villosisepala habit.jpg
Habit about 40km east of Ravensthorpe
Foliage and fruit Melaleuca villosisepala foliage and fruit.jpg
Foliage and fruit

Melaleuca villosisepala is a shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with narrow leaves, heads of pink to mauve flowers that fade to white and is similar to Melaleuca wonganensis except that its heads of flowers are smaller and pinkish rather than deep purple.

Contents

Description

Melaleuca villosisepala grows to a height of 0.2–1.3 m (0.7–4 ft). Its leaves are arranged alternately and are 3–15 mm (0.1–0.6 in) long, 0.5–1.5 mm (0.02–0.06 in) wide, linear to oblong, silky-hairy at first but becoming glabrous as they age. [2] [3]

The flowers are arranged in heads about 20 mm (0.8 in) in diameter, near the ends of the branches, with one to six groups of flowers, each with three individual flowers. The base of the flowers is hairy, 1.5–3 mm (0.06–0.1 in) long and the stamens are arranged around each flower in five bundles, each containing 5 to 9 stamens. The flowers are pink or mauve and fade to white and from September to February. The fruit are 2.5–4.5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long. [2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca villosisepala was first formally described in 1999 by Lyndley Craven in Australian Systematic Botany . [4] [5] The specific epithet (villosisepala) is derived from the Latin word villosus meaning "hairy" [6] :837 and the Neo-Latin word sepalum meaning "sepal", [6] :466 referring to the hairy lobes of the calyx. [3]

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs from the Southern Cross-Coolgardie districts, south to the Stirling Range-Ravensthorpe districts in the Esperance Plains biogeographical zone. [2] [7] It grows in red-brown clay-loam, often in roadside remnant vegetation. [8]

Conservation

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

Related Research Articles

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

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

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

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

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Melaleuca procera is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, spindly shrub with cylinder-shaped leaves and heads of pinkish flowers in later spring or early summer.

Melaleuca similis 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 stramentosa with its narrow, almost cylindrical leaves and heads of pink to purple flowers but lacks the matted, silky hairs on the young leaves and outer edge of the flower cup.

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

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

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Melaleuca venusta is a shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the west coast of Western Australia. It is a shrub with silvery leaves and heads of pink to purple flowers which fade to white and with a restricted distribution, north of the Murchison River district.

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

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

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

Melaleuca glaberrima is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dense, spreading shrub with needle shaped, but not sharp leaves and profuse pink or mauve flowers.

Melaleuca ochroma is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is very similar to Melaleuca subfalcata, varying mainly in the length of its stamens and styles. Like M. subfalcata, it has pink to mauve flowers and leaves that are very hairy when young but become glabrous when mature.

References

  1. "Melaleuca villosisepala". Plants of the World Onoine. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. p. 226. ISBN   1876334983.
  3. 1 2 3 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. 377. ISBN   9781922137517.
  4. "Melaleuca villosisepala". APNI. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. Craven, L. A.; Lepschi, B. J. (1999). "Enumeration of the species and infraspecific taxa of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) occurring in Australia and Tasmania". Australian Systematic Botany. 12 (6): 915. doi:10.1071/SB98019 . Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  7. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 398. ISBN   0646402439.
  8. 1 2 "Melaleuca villosisepala". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.