''Melaleuca cordata'' 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 speci ...

, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with erect branches, heart-shaped leaves and clusters of pinkish-red to purple flowers over an extended period.

Description

''Melaleuca cordata'' is an erect, bushy shrub which grows to a height of between with dark grey, fibrous bark. Its leaves are egg-shaped to heart-shaped, between long and wide with a very short, or no stalk. They are glabrous when mature, spirally arranged around the stem with 5 to 9 veins and have a pointed end. The flowers are deep pink to purplish-red, forming roughly spherical heads of flowers, thickly clustered on or near the ends of the stems. The flowers appear for extended periods from late spring to mid-summer. The fruit which follow flowering are woody capsules about in diameter, arranged in roughly spherical clusters.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca cordata'' was first formally described in 1852 by the Russian botanist, Nikolai Turczaninow. The Latin

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 ...

(''cordata'') means " cordate" or "heart-shaped", referring to the shape of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia from the Geraldton- Mullewa districts south to the

Lake Grace A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

Lake King Lake King is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth along State Route 40 between Kelmscott and Ravensthorpe. As of 2016, the town had a population of 95. The 2011 census recorded both the population of the ...

area and east to Coolgardie. It occurs in the Coolgardie, Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Mallee and Warren

biogeographic regions A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. De ...

. It grows in a range of habitats including sandy, often gravelly soils on sandplains.

Conservation status

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

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

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 ...

Use in horticulture

Its unusual foliage and long flowering period may make ''M. cordata'' an attractive and useful garden plant. It grows in a wide range of soils in temperate areas with low winter rainfall.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15372367 cordata Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1852 Endemic flora of Western Australia Taxa named by Nikolai Turczaninow