Melaleuca johnsonii

Melaleuca johnsonii is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is similar to Melaleuca thapsina with its cylindrical leaves with prickly tips and usually yellow heads of flowers but is distinguished from it by its shorter leaves and papery sepals.

Melaleuca johnsonii
M. johnsonii growing 10 km east of Hyden.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. johnsonii
Binomial name
Melaleuca johnsonii

Description

Melaleuca johnsonii is a shrub growing to 3 m (10 ft) tall with fibrous bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are 7–16.5 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long, 0.9–17.5 mm (0.04–0.7 in) wide, linear in shape and roughly oblong in cross-section narrowing to a sharp, straight tip.[1][2]

The flowers are usually yellow, sometimes creamy-white and occasionally pink. They are arranged in heads on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. The heads are up to 13 mm (0.5 in) in diameter and composed of 4 to 7 groups of flowers in threes. The sepals are 0.1–0.3 mm (0.004–0.01 in) long and papery. The petals are 1.0–1.5 mm (0.04–0.06 in) long and fall off as the flower ages. There are five bundles of stamens around the flower, each with 3 to 5 stamens. Flowering occurs between August and November and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, 1.5–3 mm (0.06–0.1 in) long in spherical clusters around the stem.[1][2]

M. johnsonii leaves, flowers and fruit

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca johnsonii was first formally described in 1999 by Lyndley Craven in Australian Systematic Botany from a specimen collected 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Esperance.[3][4] The specific epithet (johnsonii) honours Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson, an Australian taxonomist.[1]

Distribution and habitat

Melaleuca johnsonii occurs in and between the Hyden, Marvel Loch, Norseman, Newdegate and Esperance districts[1] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions.[5] It grows in gravelly sand and claypans.[6]

Conservation status

Melaleuca johnsonii is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[5]

References
  1. 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. 207. ISBN 9781922137517.
  2. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. p. 284. ISBN 1876334983.
  3. "Melaleuca johnsonii". APNI. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  4. 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): 883. doi:10.1071/SB98019.
  5. "Melaleuca johnsonii". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  6. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 394. ISBN 0646402439.
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