Melaleuca rigidifolia

Melaleuca rigidifolia is a shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is similar to Melaleuca plumea with its pink or purple flowers but is distinguished from that species by its lack of fluffy hairs on the flowers and its spherical clusters of fruits.

Melaleuca rigidifolia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. rigidifolia
Binomial name
Melaleuca rigidifolia

Description

Melaleuca rigidifolia is a bushy shrub with fibrous bark usually growing to a height of about 3.5 m (10 ft). Its leaves are arranged alternately, 5–19.5 mm (0.2–0.8 in) long and 0.8–2.3 mm (0.03–0.09 in) wide, glabrous and linear, lance-shaped or narrow oval in shape.[2]

The flowers are deep pink to purple, 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 18 mm (0.7 in) in diameter with 4 to 9 groups of flowers in threes. The petals are 0.6–1.5 mm (0.02–0.06 in) long and fall off as the flowers mature. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle with 2 to 6 stamens. Flowers appear between July and December. The fruit that follow are woody capsules 2–4 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long forming almost spherical clusters.[2][3]

Habit 42 km (26 mi) north of Ravensthorpe
Fruit

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca rigidifolia was first formally described in 1852 by Nikolai Turczaninow in "Bulletin de la classe physico-mathematique de l'Academie Imperiale des sciences de Saint-Petersburg".[4][5] The specific epithet (rigidifolia) is from the Latin words rigidus meaning "stiff", "hard" or "inflexible"[6]: 753  and folia meaning "leaves"[6]: 340  referring to the stiff leaves of this melaleuca.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca rigidifolia occurs in and between the Stirling Range, Albany, Lake Cronin and Esperance districts[2] in the Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee biogeographic regions.[7] It grows in a range of vegetation associations and soils on salty claypans and gravel pits and sometimes near railway lines.[8]

Conservation

This melaleuca is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[7]

References
  1. "Melaleuca rigidifolia". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  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. 307. ISBN 9781922137517.
  3. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 218–219. ISBN 1876334983.
  4. "Melaleuca rigidifolia". APNI. Retrieved 24 July 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. 342. Retrieved 9 April 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  7. "Melaleuca rigidifolia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  8. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 397. ISBN 0646402439.
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