''Melaleuca capitata'' is a shrub 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 speci ...

and is endemic to New South Wales. It has scaly bark, a densely foliaged habit and attractive heads of creamy-yellow flowers on the ends of its branches in summer.

Description

''Melaleuca capitata'' grows to tall and about wide and has very hairy young branches. Its leaves are glabrous, narrow elliptical in shape, long, wide and taper to a sharp point. The flowers are cream-colored and grouped in a short spike or a head at the ends of the branches which continue to grow after flowering. Each head contains 3 to 15 flowers and can be as large as in diameter. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower and there are 15 to 33 stamens in each bundle. Flowering occurs between October and December and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules. These are spherical to urn-shaped, about long and arranged in loose clusters along the stem. Melaleuca capitata foliage and fruit

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca capitata'' was first formally described in 1924 by Edwin Cheel in ''Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales'' from specimens collected in or near the present day Morton and Budawang national parks. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''capitata'') is from the Latin ''caput'', meaning "head", referring to the shape of the inflorescence".

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs between Bundanoon and Braidwood in New South Wales on the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

Tablelands including on the southern Blue Mountains. It grows in heath and dry sclerophyll forest on sandstone.

Use in horticulture

''Melaleuca capitata'' is not well known in cultivation but adapts to most soils and situations when adequately watered.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15370130

capitata Capitata is a suborder of Hydrozoa, a class of marine invertebrates belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. Characteristics Members of this suborder are characterised by the tentacles of the polyps terminating in knobs. In some species these are o ...

Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1924 Taxa named by Edwin Cheel