- Melaleuca styphelioides
-
Prickly-leaved paperbark 
Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Myrtales Family: Myrtaceae Genus: Melaleuca Species: M. styphelioides Binomial name Melaleuca styphelioides
Sm.[1]Melaleuca styphelioides, known as the Prickly-leaved paperbark or Prickly Paperbark, is a plant native to eastern Australia.
Contents
Description
It is a small to medium sized tree up to 20 metres high with a dense, rounded canopy and drooping branchlets.[2][3] The spongy bark is white or light brown and peels of in large strips.[3]
The sessile leaves are 7 to 15 mm long and 2.5 to 6 mm wide.[2] These are slightly twisted, have sharply-pointed tips, and are arranged alternately on the branchlets.[3]
Flowers appear in summer in cream or white cylindrical "bottlebrush" spikes which are 2 to 5 cm long and 1 to 2 cm in diameter. Often new growth appears at the end of the spikes.[3] Following flowering, grey-brown, woody capsules appear in clusters along the branchlets. These are ovoid, stalkless and 3 to 4 mm in diameter [3]
Taxonomy
The species was first formerly described in 1797 by botanist James Edward Smith in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London from plant material collected by David Burton near Port Jackson.[1]
Distribution and habitat
The species occurs along stream banks or other moist situations, mostly in coastal areas from Nowra in New South Wales and northwards in to Queensland.[2]
Cultivation
The species thrives in a variety of situations ranging from swampy to hot and dry.[4] It is used as a street tree in Sydney, with good examples in Campsie, an inner southwestern suburb.
Due to its deep-rooting characteristics, lawn can be grown under its canopy.[4]
References
- ^ a b "Melaleuca styphelioides". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Melaleuca+styphelioides. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
- ^ a b c "Melaleuca styphelioides". PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Melaleuca~styphelioides. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
- ^ a b c d e Cronin, Leonard (1989). A Concise Australian Flora. Reed Books. ISBN 0730102920.
- ^ a b Lord,E; J.H.Willis (1982). Shrubs and trees for Australian gardens. Australia: Lothian. ISBN 0850910277.
Categories:- Melaleuca
- Myrtales of Australia
- Flora of New South Wales
- Flora of Queensland
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