''Melaleuca pyramidalis'' is a plant in the myrtle

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to small areas of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. (Some Australian state herbaria use the name ''Callistemon pyramidalis''.) It is closely related to ''Melaleuca citrina'' (''Callistemon citrinus'') but is distinguished from it mainly by leaf and

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

differences. ''Melaleuca pyramidalis'' is only known from the summits of three mountains in Queensland.

Description

''Melaleuca pyramidalis'' is a shrub growing to tall with compact, dark grey, papery bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat, elliptical in shape with a short stalk. The veins are

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

and there are only a few scattered, indistinct oil glands. The flowers are red to pink, arranged in spikes up to in diameter with 20 to 50 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages and there are 35 to 42 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs in late winter and is followed by fruit that are woody capsules, long in loose clusters along the stem. ''M. pyramidalis'' can be distinguished from the similar ''M. citrina'' by its obscure oil glands (prominent in ''M. citrina'') and yellow

tips (dark red in ''M.citrina'').

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca pyramidalis'' was first formally described in 2009 by

Lyndley Craven Lyndley Alan Craven (3 September 1945 – 11 July 2014) was a botanist who became the Principal Research Scientist of the Australian National Herbarium. Lyndley ("Lyn") Craven worked for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organ ...

in ''

Novon The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million s ...

'' from a specimen collected at the summit of

Walshs Pyramid Walshs Pyramid is an independent peak with a distinct pyramidal appearance, high, located within Wooroonooran National Park about south of Cairns, Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of A ...

near Gordonvale. In 2012, Udovicic and Spencer gave the species the name '' Callistemon pyramidalis'' but in 2013, Craven transferred all species previously known as ''Callistemon'' to ''Melaleuca''. Some authorities continue to use ''Callistemon pyramidalis''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''pyramidalis'') refers to Walshs Pyramid where the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was collected. ''Callistemon pyramidalis'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca pyramidalis'' by the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca pyramidalis'' occurs on the summits of Walshs Pyramid,

Mount Diamantina Mount Diamantina is a mountain on Hinchinbrook Island, off the north east coast of Queensland, Australia. It rises out of the Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Au ...

(on

Hinchinbrook Island Hinchinbrook Island (or Pouandai to the Biyaygiri people) is an island in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It lies east of Cardwell, Queensland, Cardwell and north of Lucinda, Queensland, Lucinda, separated from the north-eas ...

) and

Mount Leach Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

(near Ingham). It grows mostly in open forest on rocky hilltops.

Conservation

The classification "Vulnerable" under the IUCN Red List applies to ''Melaleuca pyramidalis'' because it is only known from a few sites.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17595973 pyramidalis Flora of Queensland Plants described in 2009 Taxa named by Lyndley Craven