''Melaleuca dawsonii'' 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 the south of

Grande Terre Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places *Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas *Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) *Arroio ...

, the main island of

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. It is one of only a few members of its genus to occur outside

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and was formerly known as ''Callistemon suberosum'' Pancher ex Brongn. &

Gris ''Gris'' is a platform-adventure game by Spanish developer Nomada Studio and published by Devolver Digital. The game was released for macOS, Nintendo Switch, and Windows in December 2018, for iOS in August 2019, for PlayStation 4 in November 20 ...

Description

''Melaleuca dawsonii'' grows to a height of , often with a single trunk with rough, corky bark and usually with only few branches. The young growth is densely covered with silvery-grey hair which is lost as the branches mature. Its leaves are pinkish and hairy when young, long and wide when mature and have between 5 and 15 parallel veins. The flowers are bright green or yellowish-green and are in almost spherical heads at the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are long, the sepals are fringed with hairs and are long and there are 15 to 20 stamens per flower, occasionally with some stamens fused near their base but more usually entirely free. Flowering occurs throughout the year and is followed by fruit which are cup-shaped, slightly hairy, woody capsules.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca dawsonii'' was first formally described as ''Callistemon suberosum'' in 1864 by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart and

Jean Antoine Arthur Gris Jean Antoine Arthur Gris (11 December 1829 – 19 August 1872) was a French botanist who was a native of Châtillon-sur-Seine, in the department of Côte-d'Or. Beginning in 1855 he worked in the laboratory of Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart (1801-18 ...

. In 1998 it was transferred to the genus ''Melaleuca'' by Lyndley Craven and John Dawson in the journal ''Adansonia''. 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 ...

(''dawsonii'') is "in honour of John Wyndham Dawson (1928–), of Wellington, New Zealand, who is an authority on the Myrtaceae of New Caledonia".

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs only in south of Grande Terre in open

maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

in soils on ultramafic rock.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15370390 dawsonii Myrtales of Australia Flora of New Caledonia Plants described in 1864 Taxa named by Lyndley Craven