Melaleuca ordinifolia

Melaleuca ordinifolia is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is closely related to Melaleuca brevifolia, but is smaller and differing mainly in its leaf features.

Melaleuca ordinifolia
Melaleuca ordinifolia near Hamersley River

Priority Two — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. ordinifolia
Binomial name
Melaleuca ordinifolia
Barlow

Description

Melaleuca ordinifolia is a shrub to about 1.5 m (5 ft) tall. Its leaves are crowded together, and arranged in alternating pairs (decussate), so that they are in four rows along the branchlets. Each leaf is 3–7 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long and 0.8–1.5 mm (0.03–0.06 in) wide, very narrow oval in shape, slightly dished and with a rounded end.[1]

This species flowers profusely with many heads of white flowers on the sides of the branches. Each head is up to 15 mm (0.6 in) in diameter and contains one to six individual flowers. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flowers and there are 8 to 12 stamens per bundle. The main flowering period is in early spring and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules 3–4.2 mm (0.12–0.17 in) long.[1][2]

M. ordinifolia growth habit
M. ordinifolia fruit

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca ordinifolia was first formally described in 1992 by Bryan Barlow in Nuytsia as a new species.[3] The specific epithet (ordinifolia) is from the Latin ordo meaning a "methodical arrangement", "line", "series" or "row"[4]:486 and folium meaning "a leaf"[4]:340 referring to the regular arrangement of the leaves.[1]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca ordinifolia is confined to the Stirling Range and Hamersley River districts in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee biogeographic regions[5] growing in sandy loam or clay.[6]

Conservation

This species is classified as "Priority Two" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife[5] meaning that is poorly known and from one or a few locations.[7]

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. 259. ISBN 9781922137517.
  2. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. p. 34. ISBN 1876334983.
  3. "Melaleuca ordinifolia". APNI. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  4. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  5. "Melaleuca ordinifolia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  6. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 396. ISBN 0646402439.
  7. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
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