''Melaleuca stipitata'' 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 a small area in the Northern Territory of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a rare species, only discovered in 1991 and is unusual in that it is the only known example 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 ...

'' having stalked flowers. Its leaves have an essential oil with a pleasant, lemon scent possibly suitable for commercial production.

Description

''Melaleuca stipitata'' is a shrub or tree growing to about tall with grey, papery bark and glabrous branches and twigs. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide and leaves that are flat and narrow but otherwise variable in shape. The flowers are white or cream-coloured and are arranged in spikes on the ends of branches which sometimes continue to grow after flowering. The spikes are up to in diameter with 3 to 12 groups of flowers in threes and there are often leaves amongst the flower in the spike. The petals are long and fall off as the flower matures. The floral cup (the hypanthium) has a short stalk - an unusual feature for a melaleuca. Flowering occurs in December and is followed by fruit which are woody, cup-shaped capsules, long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca stipitata'' was first formally described in 1997 by Lyndley Craven and Bryan Barlow in ''

Novon The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million s ...

'' from a specimen collected below the Bukbukluk Lookout along the Kakadu Highway. 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 ...

(''stipitata'') is a New Latin word meaning "borne on a stalk" referring to the unusual stalked hypanthium of the flowers.

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs in the Bukbukluk area in the Kakadu National Park. It grows in woodland on shaly slopes.

Use as a source of essential oils

The oil extracted from the leaves of ''Melaleuca stipitata'' is lemon scented. It consists mainly of monoterpenoids which in turn contain about 43% the isomers of citral (neral and geranial), and 10% terpinen-4-ol. It is possible that this plant may be suitable for commercial development because of the antimicrobial properties of these compounds.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6811096 stipitata Flora of the Northern Territory Plants described in 1997