''Melaleuca seriata'' is a shrub 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 endemic 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 se ...

of Western Australia. In describing it,

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

wrote ''"Melaleuca seriata, parviceps, and trichophylla, are bushes, every twig of which is terminated by hemispherical heads of a brilliant pink."'' It is very similar to '' Melaleuca parviceps''.

Description

''Melaleuca seriata'' grows to about tall with its branchlets covered by small silky hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately, mostly long and wide and very narrow oval in shape although the size and shape of the leaves is variable. The flowers are arranged in heads on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering, or sometimes in the upper leaf axils. The heads are up to in diameter and contain between 3 and 7 groups of flowers in threes. The petals are long and fall off soon after the flowers open. The stamens, which give the flower its colour are a shade of pink, purple or mauve with yellow tips and are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle containing 5 to 9 stamens. Flowering is mainly in spring but also at other times of the year. The fruit are woody capsules long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca seriata'' was first formally described in 1839 by

in ''A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony''. 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 ...

(''seriata'') is from the Latin word ''series'', meaning "row", "succession" or "train" referring to the oil glands in the leaves which often occur in two rows.

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs in and between the Coorow, Green Head, Perth, Bunbury, Wyalkatchem and

Lake King Lake King is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth along State Route 40 between Kelmscott and Ravensthorpe. As of 2016, the town had a population of 95. The 2011 census recorded both the population of the tow ...

districts in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee and

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

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 usually grows in sand over laterite or clay on sandplains and depressions which fill in winter.

Conservation

''Melaleuca seriata'' 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

''Melaleuca seriata'' has been successfully cultivated in well-drained soil in temperate areas with low humidity.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15371064

seriata The Seriata are an order of turbellarian flatworms. They are found in both freshwater and marine environments, and also include a number of species found in damp terrestrial conditions. Most are free-living, but the group includes the genus '' B ...

Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1839 Endemic flora of Western Australia