''Melaleuca gnidioides'' 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 is a small shrub with heads of white flowers which turn pink with age.

Description

''Melaleuca gnidioides'' is shrub growing to a height of with thin, grey bark. The stems and leaves are glabrous except when very young. The leaves are long, wide, leathery and narrow elliptic in shape with the end tapering to a point. There are 5 to 7 parallel veins on the leaf. The flowers are in roughly spherical heads on the ends of the branches which continue to grow after flowering. The flowers are white at first but turn pink as they age. The stamens are arranged in bundles around the flower and there are 4 to 9 stamens per bundle. Flowering occurs throughout the year but mainly in summer. The fruit are woody capsules long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca gnidioides'' was first formally described in 1864 by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart and Jean Antoine Arthur Gris in ''Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Botanique''. 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 ...

(''gnidiodes'') is in reference to the similarity of this species to a plant in the genus ''

Gnidia ''Gnidia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. It is distributed in Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, and Sri Lanka; more than half of all the species are endemic to South Africa.Rogers, Z. S. (2006)A new species of Malag ...

'' in the family Thymelaeaceae.

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca gnidioides'' is found in the south of Grande Terre where it grows in

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 ...

near watercourses and in hollows in ultramafic soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15370631 gnidioides Flora of New Caledonia Plants described in 1864 Taxa named by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart Taxa named by Jean Antoine Arthur Gris