Melaleuca nervosa

Fibrebark
M. nervosa habit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species: M. nervosa
Binomial name
Melaleuca nervosa
(Lindl.) Cheel

Melaleuca nervosa, commonly known as fibrebark is a shrub or tree in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to northern Australia. (Some Australian state herbaria use the name Callistemon nervosus.[1]) It is a narrow-leaved, tropical paperbark with yellow-green and red-flowering forms. As with some other melaleucas, this species has many uses to Indigenous Australians.

Description

Melaleuca nervosa grows to 2–15 m (7–50 ft) tall, has erect branches and papery-fibrous bark which may be grey, cream, brown or white. There is variation in the leaf size and shape depending on the subspecies but they are generally 30–115 millimetres (1–5 in) long, 5–40 millimetres (0.2–2 in) wide, leathery, covered with fine or curly, silky hairs when young and have 3-7 longitudinal veins.[2][3][4]

The flowers are arranged in 6 to 20 groups of three in long spikes about 100 mm (4 in) long and 50 mm (2 in) diameter. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower and in this species there are 3-7 stamens per bundle. The flowers are white, creamy-green, cream, yellow-green or occasionally red. Flowers appear from April to September and are fllowed by fruit which are woody, cup-shaped capsules about 2–3 millimetres (0.08–0.1 in) long and wide.[2][3][4]

M. nervosa flowers near Collinsville, Queensland

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca nervosa[5] was first formally described in 1848 by John Lindley and T.L. Mitchell in Journal of an expedition to the interior of tropical Australia as Callistemon nervosum.[6][7] The type specimen was collected by Thomas Mitchell "at Mitchell's Camp of 16th July, 1846, which is quite close to Mantua Downs on the Claude and Nogoa Rivers, south of Springsure, north Queensland." He described it as "a magnificent new crimson Callistemon, with its young flowers and leaves wrapped in wool". It was subsequently placed in the genus Melaleuca as Melaleuca nervosa by Edwin Cheel in 1944, the description given in Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales.[8] The specific epithet (nervosa) is from the Latin nervosus, meaning "sinewy"[9] referring to the distinctive leaf veins of this species.[4]

There are two subspecies, differing mainly in the leaf size and shape and the persistence of the hairs on the leaves and stems:

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca is widespread in Queensland north of about Bundaberg, in the Northern Territory and the northern Kimberley in Western Australia. It occurs in a wide range of habitats including alluvium, sandy soils, along watercourses, in damp depressions and red sand dunes.[2][10]

Conservation

Melaleuca nervosa is classified "not threatened" (in Western Australia) by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[11]

Uses

Horticulture

Fibrebark is readily propagated from seed. The red form is grown at Atherton and is the more useful ornamental.[12] It should tolerate a wide range of soils and conditions.[3]

Traditional uses

The bark of M. nervosa is used to make coolamons for carrying food and other items and cutting into the trunk provided fresh water. The leaves were used as a decongestant and oils extracted from the leaves had uses similar to those for tea tree oil. [13]

References

  1. ↑ Udovicic, Frank; Spencer, Roger (2012). "New combinations in Callistemon (Myrtaceae)" (PDF). Muelleria. 30 (1): 23–25. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 198–199. ISBN 1876334983.
  3. 1 2 3 "Melaleuca nervosa". Society for growing Australian plants: Townsville branch. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 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. 251. ISBN 9781922137517.
  5. ↑ "Melaleuca nervosa". APNI. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Callistemon nervosus Lindl.". APNI. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Thomas (1848). Journal of an expedition into the interior of tropical Australia. p. 235. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  8. ↑ Cheel, Edwin (1944). "Nomenclature and taxonomy of certain species of Melaleuca". Journal and proceedings of the royal society of New South Wales. 78: 65. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "nervosus". Wiktionary. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 395. ISBN 0646402439.
  11. ↑ "Melaleuca nervosa". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  12. ↑ Wrigley, John W.; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 441. ISBN 0002165759.
  13. ↑ Williams, Cheryll (2010). Medicinal plants in Australia. (1. ed.). Dural, N.S.W.: Rosenberg. p. 300. ISBN 9781877058943. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
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