Melaleuca sabrina

Melaleuca sabrina is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area near the border between New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. (Some Australian state herbaria use the name Callistemon sabrina.[2]) It is a shrub with fibrous bark and red or pink bottlebrush flowers, tipped with yellow in spring and summer. It is similar to Melaleuca paludicola but distinguished from it by its stamens, which are almost twice as long as those of M. paludicola.

Melaleuca sabrina
Melaleuca sabrina leaves and flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. sabrina
Binomial name
Melaleuca sabrina
Synonyms[1]

Callistemon sabrina (Craven) Udovicic & R.D.Spencer

Description

Melaleuca sabrina is a shrub growing to 4 m (10 ft) tall with fibrous bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are 10–59 mm (0.4–2 in) long, 1–3.5 mm (0.04–0.1 in) wide, more or less flat and linear to very narrow egg-shaped with the narrow end towards the base. The leaves have a mid-vein and 11-20 indistinct lateral veins.[3]

The flowers are a shade of red or pink, tipped with yellow and are arranged in spikes 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) in diameter with 5 to 25 individual flowers. The petals are 3.2–5.4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and fall off as the flower ages and there are 49 to 73 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs from October to March and is followed by fruit that are woody capsules, 3.5–5.8 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long.[3]

M. sabrina growing on the banks of the Severn River
M. sabrina fruit

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca sabrina was first formally described in 2009 by Lyndley Craven in Novon.[1][4] The specific epithet (sabrina) is the name of a river nymph in Celtic mythology, who was supposed to live in the River Severn in the United Kingdom - the type specimen for Melaleuca sabrina was found near the Severn River in Queensland.[3]

Callistemon sabrina is regarded as a synonym of Melaleuca sabrina by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.[5]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca sabrina occurs in and between the Stanthorpe district in Queensland and Tenterfield in New South Wales where it grows along the banks of watercourses and between granite boulders.[3]

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References
  1. "Melaleuca sabrina". APNI. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  2. Udovicic, Frank; Spencer, Roger (2012). "New combinations in Callistemon (Myrtaceae)" (PDF). Muelleria. 30 (1): 23–25. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  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. 311. ISBN 9781922137517.
  4. Craven, Lyn A. (2009). "Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) from Australia". Novon. 19: 449–450. doi:10.3417/2007008. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  5. "Callistemon sabrina". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
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