Melaleuca teuthidoides

Melaleuca teuthidoides is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a shrub with rough bark and heads of white flowers on the ends of its branches in spring and early summer.

Melaleuca teuthidoides
M. teuthioides growing 10 km east of Ravensthorpe
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. teuthidoides
Binomial name
Melaleuca teuthidoides
Barlow[1]

Description

Melaleuca teuthidoides is a shrub growing to about 3 m (10 ft) tall with rough, grey fissured bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately, 2.5–8 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long and 0.9–1.3 mm (0.04–0.05 in) wide, very narrow oval in shape and semicircular in cross section.[2]

The flowers are white and arranged in heads or spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes in the upper leaf axils. Each head or spike contains 3 to 9 individual flowers and is up to 20 mm (0.8 in) in diameter. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flowers and there are 12 to 16 stamens per bundle. The main flowering period is from September to January and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules 4–5.5 mm (0.16–0.22 in) long.[2][3]

M. teuthioides leaves and flowers
M. teuthioides fruit
M. teuthioides bark

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca teuthidoides was first formally described in 1988 by Bryan Barlow and Kirsten Cowley in Australian Systematic Botany.[4][1] The specific epithet (teuthidoides) is derived from the Ancient Greek words teuthis meaning "squid"[5]:531 and the suffix εἶδος (eîdos) meaning "likeness"[5]:483 referring to the sepals' resembling the arms of a squid.[2]

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs in and between the Marvel Loch, Ravensthorpe and Balladonia districts[2] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions.[6] The plants grow in sand or clay in depressions that fill with water after rain.[7]

Conservation

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

References
  1. "Melaleuca teuthidoides". APNI. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  2. 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. 356. ISBN 9781922137517.
  3. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. p. 294. ISBN 1876334983.
  4. Barlow, BA; Cowley, KJ (1988). "Contributions to a revision of (Myrtaceae): 4–6". Australian Systematic Botany. 1 (2): 110. doi:10.1071/SB9880095. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  6. "Melaleuca teuthidoides". 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. 398. ISBN 0646402439.
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