Melaleuca thyoides

Melaleuca thyoides, commonly known as salt lake honey-myrtle is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with grey, papery or fibrous bark and very small, overlapping leaves on thin branchlets. It is a salt tolerant species often found on the edges of salt lakes.

Salt lake honey-myrtle
M. thyoides leaves and flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. thyoides
Binomial name
Melaleuca thyoides

Description

Melaleuca thyoides is a shrub which grows to about 5 m (20 ft) high and wide. It has rough, dark grey bark and branchlets that are glabrous except when they first appear. The leaves are arranged alternately and are scale-like, 0.9–2.2 mm (0.04–0.09 in) long, 0.8–1.2 mm (0.03–0.05 in) wide, egg-shaped with the upper surface pressed against the stem and overlapping each other.[1]

The flowers are a shade of pink to purple, sometimes white or cream, arranged in heads on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes in the upper leaf axils. The heads are up to 17 mm (0.7 in) in diameter and contain 4 to 12 groups of flowers in threes. The petals are 1–1.5 mm (0.04–0.06 in) long and fall off as the flowers mature. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle with 3 to 6 stamens. Flowers appear in spring or summer and the fruit which follow are woody, cup-shaped capsules, 2.5–3 mm (0.098–0.12 in) long in clusters up to 40 mm (2 in) in length along the stem.[1][2][3]

M. thyoides growing along Scaddan Road
M. thyoides fruit
M. thyoides bark

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca thyoides was first formally described in 1847 by Nikolai Turczaninow in "Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou".[4][5] The specific epithet (thyoides) is in reference to the leaves resembling those of Thuja, a genus of plant in the cypress family, Cupressaceae.[1]

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs in and between the Ongerup, Perenjori and Cape Arid districts[1] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.[6] It grows in clay or sandy soils near the edges of salt lakes and along river banks.[7]

Conservation

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

Uses in horticulture

Melaleuca thyoides is a salt tolerant species and also moderately tolerant of water logging and drought.[3]

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. 360. ISBN 9781922137517.
  2. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 290–291. ISBN 1876334983.
  3. "Melaleuca thyoides - Salt-buster myrtle" (PDF). Government of Western Australia, Department of Water. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  4. "Melaleuca thyoides". APNI. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  5. Turczaninow, Nikolai (1847). Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, Volume 20. St. Petersburg. pp. 167–168. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  6. "Melaleuca thyoides". 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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