''Melaleuca rhaphiophylla'', commonly known as swamp paperbark 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 west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

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 has narrow, needle-like leaves and profuse spikes of white or yellowish flowers at variable times throughout the year. As its common name suggests, it is usually found in salt marshes, or swamps or along watercourses and occurs over wide areas of the south-west.

Description

''Melaleuca rhaphiophylla'' is a large shrub or small tree, growing to tall, often multi-stemmed, with a bushy crown and greyish papery bark. Its leaves are soft, arranged alternately, long, wide, linear in shape, circular or oval in cross-section and taper to a hooked point. The flowers are a shade of white to cream, arranged in heads or spikes on the ends of most of the branches which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. The heads are up to in diameter, long and contain 4 to 25 groups of flowers in threes. 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

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 around the flower, each with 11 to 25 stamens. Flowering occurs spasmodically, mainly from May to January and is followed by fruit which are woody, cup-shaped capsules, long and in diameter in clusters along the stem.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca rhaphiophylla'' was first formally described in 1844 by Johannes Schauer in ''

Plantae Preissianae ''Plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali annis 1838-1841 collegit Ludovicus Preiss'', more commonly known as ''Plantae preissianae'', is a book written by Johann Georg Christian Leh ...

'' from specimens collected "in the sandy plain of the Swan River" and "in humus on the banks of the Avon River near the village of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

". 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 ...

(''rhaphiophylla'') is derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

words ''rhaphís'' meaning “a needle” and ''phyllon'' meaning "a leaf", referring to the needle like foliage of this species.

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs in and between the Kalbarri and Albany districts. It grows in sandy or clay soils, sometimes with limestone, near watercourses, in swamps and saltmarshes.

Ecology

''Melaleuca rhaphiophylla'' provides food for a range of native animals and because of its dense crown, habitat for fauna. Waterbirds use this species as it often grows in areas that are flooded during the breeding season, deterring many predators. Its shallow roots reduce erosion along watercourses, stabilise soils and trap sediment. In some areas, this species is suffering from competition with the introduced '' Typha orientalis'' which regrows more vigorously after fire.

Conservation

''Melaleuca rhaphiophylla'' 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

This species of melaleuca is a useful shrub for damp locations. It can be used as a screening plant if pruned regularly. Seeds are easily collected from unopened capsules on the plant and grown as tubestock or seeded directly into the soil.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2018 rhaphiophylla Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1844 Rosids of Western Australia Endemic flora of Southwest Australia Taxa named by Johannes Conrad Schauer