''Melaleuca spectabilis'' 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 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. It was formerly known as a subspecies of '' Melaleuca longistaminea''. It is a low, prickly shrub with yellow or lime-green flowers in spring and early summer.

Description

''Melaleuca spectabilis'' is a spreading or prostrate shrub growing to about tall with branches and leaves that are glabrous when mature. Its leaves are arranged alternately, long and wide, heart-shaped with a sharp point on the end and with at least the lower part of the leaf pressed against the stem. The flowers are yellow to lime-green and arranged in heads on the sides of the branches. Each head contains 5 to 15 individual flowers and is up to in diameter. The petals are long (compared to in ''M. longistaminea'') and fall off as the flowers mature. 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 flowers and there are 9 to 24 stamens per bundle. The flowering period is from August to late November and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules long with teeth around the edges and in clusters along the branches.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca longistaminea'' subsp. ''spectabilis'' was first described in 1999 by Bryan Barlow and Lyndley Craven in Australian Systematic Botany. It was raised to species status in 2010 by Craven, Lepschi and Cowley in '' Nuytsia''. 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 ...

(''spectabilis'') is a Latin word meaning "notable", "showy" or "remarkable" referring to the showy flowers

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs in the Geraldton and Ajana districts in the Geraldton Sandplains

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

. The plants grow in scrub and low heath in sandy or gravelly clay loam.

Conservation

''Melaleuca spectabilis'' 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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17595968 spectabilis Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1999 Endemic flora of Western Australia