Kingdom Plantae Family Myrtaceae Rank Species | Order Myrtales Genus Melaleuca | |
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Similar Melaleuca vinnula, Melaleuca croxfordiae, Melaleuca uxorum, Melaleuca sapientes, Melaleuca holosericea | ||
Melaleuca scabra, commonly known as rough honey-myrtle is a shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a woody shrub with unusual leaves and profuse pink to purple heads of flowers from mid-winter to mid-summer, although the flowers are not long-lasting. It was formerly assumed to be a widespread species until the genus was revised in 1999 by Lyndley Craven and Brendan Lepschi. In Flora Australasica of 1828, Robert Sweet described this species as "a rare and beautiful plant" and "...its flowers are of a dark purple and produced in great abundance; the ends of all the young shoots being covered with them, they are there crowded in dense heads, so that they have scarcely room to expand, and are of a pleasant aromatic scent."
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Description
Melaleuca scabra grows to a height and width of about 1.2 m (4 ft) with its branches, branchlets and leaves glabrous. The leaves are arranged alternately, each leaf 5.5–21 mm (0.2–0.8 in) long, 0.8–1.3 mm (0.03–0.05 in) wide, linear to oblong in shape and rough, often with a channel on the lower surface. The leaves are warty or scabby, giving rise to the specific epithet scabra.
The flowers are in heads at the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering. Each head has up to five groups of flowers in threes and is up to 22 mm (0.9 in) in diameter. The stamens are shades of pink or deep purple with a yellow anther at the tip and are arranged in 5 bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 3 to 6 stamens. Flowering occurs from July to November and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long in almost spherical clusters.
Taxonomy and naming
This species was first described in 1812 by Robert Brown in Hortus Kewensis. The specific epithet (scabra) is from the Latin scaber meaning "rough", or "scabrous".
Distribution and habitat
Melaleuca scabra occurs in coastal areas of Western Australia between Hopetoun and Israelite Bay in the Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions growing in soils containing sand, clay or laterite.
Conservation
This species is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.