''Melaleuca hnatiukii'' 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 of Western Australia. It is a medium to large shrub with arching branches, prickly tipped leaves and creamy-white heads of flowers in spring or early summer.

Description

''Melaleuca hnatiukii'' is a shrub growing to tall with whitish, papery bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately, elliptic to narrow egg-shaped, flat, long, wide with a short, prickly point on the end. The flowers are white or cream-coloured and arranged in heads or short spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes in the upper leaf axils. The heads are up to in diameter and composed of 2 to 12 groups of flowers in threes. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages. There are five bundles of stamens around the flower, each with 5 to 8 stamens. Flowering occurs between September and January and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, usually long, in oval-shaped clusters around the stem.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca hnatiukii'' was first formally described in 1999 by Lyndley Craven in '' Australian Systematic Botany'' from a specimen collected near Scaddan. 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 ...

(''hnatiukii'') honours

Roger Hnatiuk Roger James Hnatiuk (born 1946) is a Canadian-Australian botanist specialising in biogeography and plant ecology. Background Hnatiuk was awarded 1st class honours in botany from the University of Alberta, and went on to graduate with an MSc in p ...

, a Canadian- Australian botanist.

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca hnatiukii'' occurs in the Scaddan and Esperance districts in the Esperance Plains and Mallee

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 sandy soils in heath near salt lakes.

Conservation status

''Melaleuca hnatiukii'' 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 e ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6811032 hnatiukii Plants described in 1999 Endemic flora of Western Australia Taxa named by Lyndley Craven