Melaleuca Viminea
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''Melaleuca viminea'', commonly known as mohan, is a plant in the myrtle family
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 ...
of
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 variable in size and form, from a densely branched small shrub to a small tree. Its leaves are linear to narrowly oval, the flowers white to cream-coloured, in heads of 5 to 50, and the fruit is a woody capsule.


Description

''Melaleuca viminea'' grows to in height and has fibrous or papery bark. Its leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, each leaf long and wide, linear to narrow oval in shape, tapering to a point. Its flowers are in heads, at or near the ends of the branches in groups, in diameter composed of 5 to 50 individual white or cream flowers. The
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 ...
s are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle having 3 to 16 stamens. Flowers appear from July to November and are described as smelling sickly. The fruit are woody capsules, long.


Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1839 by
John Lindley John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist. Early years Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...
in ''
A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony "A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony", also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Sketch Veg. Swan R.'', is an 1839 article by John Lindley on the flora of the Swan River Colony. Nearly 300 new species were published in it ...
''. 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 ...
(''viminea'') is a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word meaning "pliant" or "willowy". The names of three subspecies of ''Melaleuca vimminalis'' are currently recognised by the
Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...
: *''Melaleuca viminea'' subsp. ''appressa'' Barlow is distinguished by its small leaves, pressed against the branchlets - it occurs in three disjunct populations - Ongerup, Mt Burdett and Yilgarn districts. *''Melaleuca viminea'' subsp. ''demissa'' Quinn ex. Craven mainly occurs in the Walpole- Manypeaks district. *''Melaleuca viminea'' Lindl. subsp. ''viminea'' occurs in the Kalbarri district south to the
Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destin ...
and Albany districts, and eastwards to the Muntadgin and
Fitzgerald River The Fitzgerald River is a river in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Surveyor General John Septimus Roe named the river during expeditions in the area in 1848 after the governor of Western Australia of the day, Charles Fitzger ...
districts; it is naturalised locally in southern Victoria.


Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca is widespread in the south-west of Western Australia. It grows in sandy or clayey soils near watercourses, winter-wet depressions, rocky coastal areas and flats.


Conservation

''Melaleuca viminea'', subsp. ''demissa'' and ''viminea'' are listed as "not threatened" but subsp. ''appressa'' is listed as " Priority Two" 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 Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Government of Western Australia, Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management A ...
meaning it may be threatened but is poorly known, only occurring in a few locations.


References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q6811117, from2=Q51056265, from3=Q51056275, from4=Q51056282 viminea Rosids of Western Australia Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1839 Endemic flora of Western Australia Taxa named by John Lindley