''Melaleuca genialis'' 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 rare species, known from one nature reserve. It is similar to '' Melaleuca tinkeri'', mainly differing from it in having hairy leaves and petals. (The leaves of ''M. tinkeri'' are glabrous.)

Description

''Melaleuca genialis'' is a shrub growing to about tall. Its branchlets are covered with soft, silky hairs when young but become glabrous with age. The leaves are arranged alternately, long, wide, linear to narrow egg-shaped and tapering to a non-prickly point. They are also covered with soft, silky hairs and have single mid-vein. The flowers are a shade of pink to purple and are arranged in heads on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering. The heads are in diameter and contain 5 to 7 groups of flowers in threes. The petals are long and fall off as the flower matures. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 2 to 5 stamens. The main flowering season is in October and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca genialis'' was first formally described as a new species in 2010 by

Brendan Lepschi Brendan John Lepschi (born 1969) is an Australian botanist, whose interests include the taxonomy of the genus ''Melaleuca'', the families Santalaceae and Goodeniaceae and how exotic species become naturalised. He is the curator of the Australi ...

. 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 ...

(''genialis'') is from the Latin word meaning "jovial" or "pleasant", referring to "the staff at the Western Australian Herbarium in the 1990s".

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca genialis'' has a restricted distribution in a nature reserve near Wagin in the Avon Wheatbelt

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

. It grows in woodland in clay soils.

Conservation status

''Melaleuca genialis'' is listed as " Priority Two" 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 ...

meaning it may be threatened but is poorly known, only occurring in a few locations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17595983 genialis Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 2010 Endemic flora of Western Australia