Melaleuca ulicoides

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 ulicoides
M. ulicoides leaves and flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. ulicoides
Binomial name
Melaleuca ulicoides
Craven & Lepschi

Description

Melaleuca ulicoides grows to a height of 1 m (3 ft). Its leaves are arranged alternately, narrow triangular to narrow egg-shaped tapering to a sharp, prickly point and crescent-moon shape in cross section. The leaves are 3.9–12 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long, 1.1–2.7 mm (0.04–0.1 in) wide, glabrous when mature, have a distinct mid-vein on the lower surface and 4 other less obvious parallel veins. (Melaleuca marginata has between 7 and 17 equally indistinct veins.) There are also many distinct oil glands in the leaves.[1][2]

The flowers are white to cream-coloured and arranged in heads of 1 to 3 individual flowers, the heads up to 20 mm (0.8 in) in diameter. The petals are 3.5–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and fall off as the flower matures. The stamens are arranged in bundles of five around the flower, with 18 to 28 stamens in each bundle. Flowers appear in October or November and are followed by fruit which are woody capsules 2.7–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long with teeth around the edge.[1]

M. ulicoides growing near Ravensthorpe

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca ulicoides was first described in 2010 by Lyndley Craven in Nuytsia from a specimen collected in 1965 by Alex George.[3] The specific epithet (ulicoides) is a reference to the similarity of this species to a species of gorse Ulex in the pea family, Fabaceae.[1]

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs in the Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe districts[1] in the Esperance Plains biogeographic region[4] where it grows in gravelly clay loam in mallee.[1]

Conservation

Melaleuca ulicoides is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[4]

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References
  1. 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. 370. ISBN 9781922137517.
  2. Craven, Lyndley; Lepschi, Brendan; Cowley, Kirsten (2010). "Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) of Western Australia: five new species, three new combinations, one new name and a new state record" (PDF). Nuytsia. 20: 31–32. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  3. "Melaleuca ulicoides". APNI. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  4. "Melaleuca ulicoides". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
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