''Melaleuca lateriflora'', commonly known as gorada, 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 the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is usually an erect shrub with oval leaves and small clusters of white flowers mainly along the older branches.

Description

''Melaleuca lateriflora'' is a branching shrub with rough, grey-brown bark, usually growing to about tall or sometimes higher with

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

foliage except on the youngest leaves and branchlets. Its leaves are arranged alternately, are long, wide and variable in shape from linear to oval with a short pointed tip. The flowers are white or pale cream, arranged in heads up to long and in diameter with up to 15 flowers in each head. The heads occur on the previous year's wood but also at or near the ends of branches. The petals are long and fall off soon after the flower opens. The stamens are in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 6 to 13 stamens. The flowers mainly appear between September and January and are followed by the fruit which are woody capsules long and in diameter with the

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s remaining as teeth on the capsules.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca lateriflora'' was first formally described in 1867 by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume Flora of Australia published b ...

''. 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 ...

(''lateriflora'') is "in reference to the inflorescences being inserted on the branchlets and branches below the leaves". Until 2010 there were two subspecies - ''Melaleuca lateriflora'' subsp. ''lateriflora'' and ''Melaleuca lateriflora'' subsp. ''acutifolia'' but in 2010 the latter subspecies was raised to species status as '' Melaleuca acutifolia''.

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca lateriflora'' occurs from the

Yuna Yuna may refer to: Places * Yuna, Western Australia *Yuna River, Dominican Republic People *Yuna Kagesaki (born 1973), Japanese manga artist * Song Yoon-ah (born 1973), South Korean actress *Yuna Ito (born 1983), American-Japanese singer *Yuna ...

and Mullewa districts east to the Coolgardie district and south to the

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbro ...

in the

Avon Wheatbelt The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion. Geography The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low rel ...

, Coolgardie,

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeography, biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the South_coast_of_Western_Australia , south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordere ...

Geraldton Sandplains Geraldton Sandplains is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion of Western Australia. It has an area of . The Geraldton Sandplains is part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion, as asses ...

Jarrah Forest Jarrah Forest, also known as the Southwest Australia woodlands, is an interim Australian bioregion and ecoregion located in the south west of Western Australia.

, Mallee, Murchison and Yalgoo biogeographic regions. It grows in sandy and clayey soils on flats, floodplains and swampy areas.

Conservation status

''Melaleuca lateriflora'' is listed as "not threatened" by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15370503 lateriflora Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1867 Endemic flora of Western Australia