''Melaleuca pulchella'', commonly known as claw flower and claw honey-myrtle, is a plant in the myrtle

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 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 elsew ...

to the south 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 ...

. It is one of only two species of ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

'' to have two kinds of

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 (the other is '' Melaleuca violacea''). The outer stamens are longer and curved, giving the appearance of a claw to the flower. It is a hardy shrub flowering over a long period, and has been a popular garden plant for many years.

Description

''Melaleuca pulchella'' is a spreading shrub which may grow to high. The numerous arching branches bear many small leaves which are ovate to elliptic in shape and measure in length by wide. The leaves are crescent moon shaped in cross section and the undersides have large oil glands. Appearing from September to February, sometimes in April or May, the flowers are pink to mauve in colour. They occur singly or in groups of up to four, forming small heads up to in diameter, mostly at or near the ends of the branches. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are long and fall off as the flower matures. There are five bundles of

s around the flower, each with 45-100 stamens. Each bundle contains about 45 to 80 short, (

sterile Sterile or sterility may refer to: *Asepsis, a state of being free from biological contaminants * Sterile (archaeology), a sediment deposit which contains no evidence of human activity *Sterilization (microbiology), any process that eliminates or ...

) stamens and 10 to 15 long, curved, outer stamens. Flowering is followed by fruit which are woody, urn-shaped capsules, long and about in diameter.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca pulchella'' was first formally described in 1812 by Robert Brown , the description published by

William Aiton William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist. Aiton was born near Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Phi ...

in ''

Hortus Kewensis ''Hortus Kewensis, or a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew'' by William Aiton was a 1789 catalogue of all the plant species then in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is ...

''. 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 ...

(''pulchella'') is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

adjective ''pulchellus'' meaning "very pretty" (diminutive of ''pulcher''), referring to the flowers of this species.

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca pulchella'' occurs along Western Australia's south coast, from Hopetoun to

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia. Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Grea ...

in the

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a pl ...

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 plains, dunes and swamps.

Conservation

''Melaleuca pulchella'' 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 ...

Use in horticulture

''Melaleuca pulchellas small size, long flowering period and widely admired flowers make it a popular plant for gardens. It prefers fair drainage and extra water but is adaptable to most garden situations. Unlike many Australian native plants, it is relatively tolerant of phosphates to some degree in cultivation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6811078

pulchella ''Pulchella'' is a diatom genus in the family Naviculaceae. Species the genus contains seven described species. *''Pulchella baicalensis'' *''Pulchella kriegeriana'' *''Pulchella minutissima'' *''Pulchella obsita'' *''Pulchella schwabei'' *'' ...

Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1812 Rosids of Western Australia Endemic flora of Western Australia