''Melaleuca hollidayi'' is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with fine hairs like spider web on its leaves, and bright pink flowers.

Description

''Melaleuca hollidayi'' is a shrub growing to , usually less but often spreading to more than wide and which has papery bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately, linear in shape, oval in cross section, long, wide with a rounded end and a covering of fine hairs like spider silk. The flowers are a shade of deep pink to purple, arranged in heads 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 9 groups of flowers in threes. The petals are long and fall off as the flower opens. There are five bundles of stamens around the flower, each with 5 to 10 stamens. Flowering occurs between August and November and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, usually long, in small, loose clusters around the stem.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca hollidayi'' 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 ...

(''hollidayi'') honours Ivan Holliday, an Australian author of books about native plants who did much to promote the use of indigenous plants in cultivation, including ''Melaleuca'' species.

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca hollidayi'' occurs in the Kalbarri and Mullewa 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 on sandplains in heath, often with '' Banksia'' species.

Conservation status

''Melaleuca hollidayi'' 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=Q6811036 hollidayi Plants described in 1999 Endemic flora of Western Australia Taxa named by Lyndley Craven