Melaleuca scabra

Rough honey-myrtle
M. scabra growing at Mylies Beach near East Mount Barren
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Melaleuca
Species:	M. scabra
Binomial name
Melaleuca scabra R.Br.

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.^[1] It was formerly assumed to be a widespread species until the genus was revised in 1999 by Lyndley Craven and Brendan Lepschi.^[2] 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."^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[4][5]

M. scabra leaves and flowers

M. scabra fruit

M. scabra bark

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first described in 1812 by Robert Brown in Hortus Kewensis.^[6][7] The specific epithet (scabra) is from the Latin scaber meaning "rough", or "scabrous".^[8]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca scabra occurs in coastal areas of Western Australia between Hopetoun and Israelite Bay^[5] in the Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions^[9] growing in soils containing sand, clay or laterite.^[10]

Conservation

This species is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.^[9]

References

1. Archer, William. "Rough honey-myrtle". Esperance Wildflowers. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
2. Craven, L. A.; Lepschi, B. J. (1999). "Enumeration of the species and infraspecific taxa of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) occurring in Australia and Tasmania". Australian Systematic Botany. 12 (6): 902. doi:10.1071/SB98019. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
3. Sweet, Robert (1827–1828). Flora Australasica. Piccadilly, London: James Ridgway. p. 10. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
4. 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. 315. ISBN 9781922137517.
5. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 252–253. ISBN 1876334983.
6. "Melaleuca scabra". APNI. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
7. Brown, Robert; Aiton, William Townsend (1812). Hortus kewensis. London. p. 414. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
8. "scaber". Wiktionary. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
9. "Melaleuca scabra". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
10. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 397. ISBN 0646402439.