Melaleuca bracteosa

Melaleuca bracteosa is a low, spreading shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has tiny, fleshy, non-prickly leaves and cream flowerheads.

Melaleuca bracteosa
M. bracteosa foliage and flowers.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. bracteosa
Binomial name
Melaleuca bracteosa

Description

Melaleuca bracteosa is sometimes an erect shrub to a height of 1.5 metres (5 ft) but is more usually a low, dense spreading shrub to about 0.5 m (2 ft). Its leaves are narrow oval in shape, 2.7–9 mm (0.1–0.4 in) long and 0.9–1.5 mm (0.04–0.06 in), glabrous, bright green and fleshy with a blunt tip.

The flowers are usually bright cream coloured but sometimes white or mauve-pink. They are in heads, sometimes on the ends of branches and sometimes on the sides of the stem, each head about 16 mm (0.6 in) in diameter and containing 5 to 20 individual flowers. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 3 to 8 stamens. The flowering season lasts from August to November and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules 2.4–3.2 mm (0.09–0.1 in) long.[2][3]

M. bracteosa at Cape Riche.
M. bracteosa fruit

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1847 by the Russian botanist Nikolai Turczaninow in Bulletin de la classe physico-mathematique de l'Academie Imperiale des sciences de Saint-Petersburg.[4][5] The specific epithet (bracteosa) is from the Latin bractea, meaning bract, referring to the persistent bracts of the flowers.[3]

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs from the Pingrup district south to Albany and east to Ravensthorpe in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee biogeographic regions.[6] It grows in sand, loam or clay on winter-wet flats or plains[7] often under low trees or tall shrubs.[2]

Conservation status

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

Uses

Essential oils

This species produces sesquiterpene oils at a rate of 0.3% (weight for weight) from fresh leaves.[3]

References
  1. "Melaleuca bracteosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 32–33. ISBN 1876334983.
  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. 96. ISBN 9781922137517.
  4. "Melaleuca bracteosa". APNI. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  5. Turczaninow, Nikolai (1852). Bulletin de la classe physico-mathematique de l'Academie Imperiale des sciences de Saint-Petersburg, Volumes 10-11. St. Petersburg. p. 340. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  6. "Melaleuca bracteosa". 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. 392. ISBN 0646402439.
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