Melaleuca urceolaris

Melaleuca urceolaris is a low, spreading shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. Although it is rare in cultivation, it is an attractive garden plant due to its soft foliage and white flowers which fade to pink or red. It is similar to Melaleuca scabra with which it has often been confused.[2]

Melaleuca urceolaris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. urceolaris
Binomial name
Melaleuca urceolaris
Synonyms[1]

Myrtoleucodendron urceolare (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Kuntze

Description

Melaleuca urceolaris grows to a height of about 1.5 m (5 ft) spreading to 1 m (3 ft) or more with its low spreading branches. Its leaves are arranged alternately, mostly linear, 6.7–20 mm (0.3–0.8 in) long and 0.6–1 mm (0.02–0.04 in) with a covering of small soft hairs giving the leaves a greyish-green colour.[2][3]

The flowers are arranged in heads up to 25 mm (1 in) in diameter, at or near the ends of the branches, with 2 to 12 flowers in each head. The flowers appear from August and November and are initially white to cream or lemon-yellow but age to pinkish or red. The stamens are arranged in bundles of five around the flower, with 9 to 15 stamens in each bundle. The base of the flower is hairy and 1.5–2.5 millimetres (0.06–0.1 in) long. The fruit are woody capsules, 2.8–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long.[2][3]

Habit in the Lesueur National Park
Fruit

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca urceolaris was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis.[4][5] The specific epithet (urceolaris) is derived from the Latin urceus meaning "urn" or "pitcher"[6] referring to the shape of the fruit.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca urceolaris occurs in the Arrino-Jurien Bay-Gingin districts in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions.[7] It grows in dense heath, low shrubland and woodland on sand, sand over laterite, sandy clay, and gravel.[2]

Conservation

Calothamnus urceolaris is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[7]

Uses

Horticulture

This species is described as "a handsome foliage shrub, spectacular in flower in good forms"[3] growing well in poor sandy soil in winter-rainfall, temperate to semi-dry areas.[8]

Essential oils

This leaf oil of this species is mostly monoterpenoid yielding about 0.6% (weight/weight) from fresh leaves.[2]

References
  1. "Melaleuca urceolaris". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 14 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. 374. ISBN 9781922137517.
  3. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 302–303. ISBN 1876334983.
  4. "Melaleuca urceolaris". APNI. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  5. Bentham, George (1866). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. pp. 154–155. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  6. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 628.
  7. "Melaleuca urceolaris". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  8. Wrigley, John; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 270. ISBN 0002165759.
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