''Melaleuca keigheryi'' is a shrub in the myrtle
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
,
Myrtaceae with white, papery bark and is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to the west coast of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. In spring, it has heads of pink flowers which fade in color to become white.
Description
''Melaleuca keigheryi'' is a shrub with papery bark growing to tall. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat, egg-shaped and with a sort, blunt tip. They are also unusual for the genus in that they have
pinnate
Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...
rather than longitudinal veins.
The flowers are a shade of pink to purple and fade to white. They are arranged in heads on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. The heads are up to in diameter and composed of 4 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 6 to 10 stamens. Flowering occurs between August and October and is followed by fruit which are woody
capsules, long in roughly spherical clusters around the stem.
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Taxonomy and naming
''Melaleuca keigheryi'' was first formally described in 1999 by Lyndley Craven
Lyndley Alan Craven (3 September 1945 – 11 July 2014) was a botanist who became the Principal Research Scientist of the Australian National Herbarium.
Lyndley ("Lyn") Craven worked for the CSIRO plant taxonomy unit of the New Guinea Survey Gr ...
in ''Australian Systematic Botany
''Australian Systematic Botany'' is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published by CSIRO Publishing. It is devoted to publishing original research, and sometimes review articles, on topics related to systematic botany, such as bio ...
'' from a specimen collected near Shark Bay.
Distribution and habitat
''Melaleuca keigheryi'' occurs in the Shark Bay district
Conservation status
''Melaleuca keigheryi'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia 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=Q6811048
keigheryi
Plants described in 1999
Endemic flora of Western Australia
Taxa named by Lyndley Craven