''Melaleuca linophylla'' 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 native to the north-west of Western Australia. It is a bushy shrub with narrow leaves and spikes of cream-coloured flowers in spring. It is distinguished by its fruits which are much more urn-shaped than those of other melaleucas.

Description

''Melaleuca linophylla'' is a spreading, sometimes bushy shrub which grows to a height of . Its leaves are arranged alternately on the stems, very narrow elliptic in shape, long and wide. The flowers are cream coloured and profuse, arranged in spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow before the flowers have opened, sometimes in the upper leaf axils, with each spike containing 30 to 70 individual flowers. The spikes are up to long and in diameter. The petals are long and the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are arranged in five bundles around the flower, with 7 to 15 stamens in each bundle. Flowering occurs in spring and the fruit which follow are woody capsules long and distinctly shaped like an urn or a vase.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca linophylla'' was first formally described in 1862 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

in " Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae". The derivation of 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 ...

(''linophylla'') is uncertain but may be due to Mueller's perception that the leaves of this plant are similar to those of a species of '' Linum'' in the Family

Linaceae Linaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family is cosmopolitan, and includes about 250 species in 14 genera, classified into two subfamilies: the Linoideae and Hugonioideae (often recognized as a distinct family, the Hugoniaceae). Leaves of ...

. The Ancient Greek word ''phýllon'' means “leaf”.

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca linophylla'' occurs in and between the districts of Karratha, Port Hedland and Paraburdoo in the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...

Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1
data

and Pilbara

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 stony and sandy soils along creek edges.

Conservation

This species is classified 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 ...

Use in horticulture

This species is rarely cultivated but it should tolerate dry conditions in well-drained soil.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15371429 linophylla Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1862 Endemic flora of Western Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller