Melaleuca preissiana

Stout Paperbark
Melaleuca preissiana on the Swan Coastal Plain north of Perth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Melaleuca
Species:	M. preissiana
Binomial name
Melaleuca preissiana Schauer

Melaleuca preissiana, commonly known as Stout Paperbark, Modong or Moonah, is a tree that grows in coastal areas of southwest Australia. It grows up to 15 metres tall, occurring chiefly in areas that are seasonally wet. It has papery bark, and pointed leaves from 1 to 1½ centimetres long and 1 to 2 millimetres wide. White or cream flowers are produced from about November to February.^[1]

A scientific description of Melaleuca preissiana was first published by Johannes Conrad Schauer in Johann Georg Christian Lehmann's 1844 Plantae Preissianae 1(1), from a specimen collected by Ludwig Preiss and sent to England in one of James Drummond's collections.^[2]

The common name "moonah" is probably attributed in error. Flora of the Perth Region uses the name, but other sources use "moonah" in reference to Melaleuca lanceolata (Moonah or Rottnest Island Tea-tree).^[3]

The species is one of three typical trees occurring in the peat of Mound springs of the Swan Coastal Plain, ecological communities surrounding aquifer discharges of the Gnangara Mound.^[4]

References

1. ^ Department of Environment and Conservation (1998–). "FloraBase — The Western Australian Flora". http://florabase.dec.wa.gov.au/. Retrieved 2009-08-03. 
2. ^ "Melaleuca preissiana Schauer". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=56901. 
3. ^ Powell, Robert (1990). Leaf and Branch: Trees and Tall Shrubs of Perth. Perth, Western Australia: Department of Conservation and Land Management. ISBN 0730939162. 
4. ^ Department of the Environment and Water Resources. "Assemblages of plants and invertebrate animals of tumulus (organic mound) springs of the Swan Coastal Plain". Threatened species & ecological communities. Australian Government. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/communities/tumulus-mounds.html. Retrieved 2007-04-01. "Typical and common native vascular plant species associated with the tumulus springs are the trees Banksia littoralis, Melaleuca preissiana and Eucalyptus rudis" 

External links

• "Melaleuca preissiana". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia. http://florabase.dec.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/5952.