Melaleuca lophocoracorum
| Melaleuca lophocoracorum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Melaleuca lophocoracorum recovering from fire, near Ravenshoe, Queensland | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Melaleuca |
| Species: | M. lophocoracorum |
| Binomial name | |
| Melaleuca lophocoracorum A.J.Ford, Craven& Brophy | |
Melaleuca lophocoracorum is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area (less than 1km2) in the Ravenshoe State Forest, near Ravenshoe in Queensland, Australia. It is a newly described (2013) species similar to Melaleuca squamophloia and Melaleuca styphelioides.
Description
Melaleuca lophocoracorum is a shrub or small tree growing to a height of 10 metres (33 ft). Its leaves are arranged alternately, 2.8–8.5 millimetres (0.1–0.3 in) long, 2.7–3.8 millimetres (0.11–0.15 in) wide, egg-shaped, twisted, tapering to a sharp but not prickly point.[1]
The flowers are cream-coloured and arranged in spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and also on the sides of the branches. The spikes are up to 18 millimetres (0.7 in) in diameter, 25 millimetres (1 in) long and contain 3 to 9 groups of flowers in threes. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower with 15 to 25 stamens per bundle. Flowers appear in December and January and are followed by fruits which are woody capsules 2.6–3.1 millimetres (0.10–0.12 in) long. The fruits retain the seeds for more than 3 years or until the plant is burned or the part bearing the fruit dies. The sepals remain as teeth around the edge of the fruit, usually for more than a year.[1]
Taxonomy and naming
Melaleuca lophocoracorum was discovered in 2012[2] and first formally described in 2013 by Andrew Ford, Lyn Craven and Joe Brophy in Telopea[3] from a specimen collected on the walking track to Bally Knob near Ravenshoe. The specific epithet (lophocoracorum) is from the Ancient Greek word λόφος (lóphos) meaning “crest”[4] and from corax meaning "raven",[5] because "hoe" in "Ravenshoe" originally meant "ridge" or "crest of a hill", so that lophocoracorum is equivalent to Ravenshoe.[1]
Distribution and habitat
Melaleuca lophocoracorum is only known from an area of about 1km2 near Ravenshoe, where there are thought to be no more than 600 individual plants. It grows in forest, generally in poorly-drained or swampy soil on rhyolite rock near creeks. There seems to be a correlation between the size of the plants and the depth of the soil in which they grow.[1]
Ecology
Response to fire
After fire, Melaleuca lophocoracorum resprouts at the stem base and along stems from epicormic buds.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Ford, Andrew J.; Craven, Lyndley A.; Brophy, Joseph J. (8 November 2013). "A new species of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) from north-east Queensland.". Telopea 15: 185–189. doi:10.7751/telopea2013021. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ↑ Brophy, Joseph J.; Craven, Lyndley A.; Doran, John C. (2013). Melaleucas : their botany, essential oils and uses. Canberra: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. p. 337. ISBN 9781922137517.
- ↑ "Melaleuca lophocoracorum". APNI. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ↑ "λόφος". Wiktionary. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ↑ "corax". Wiktionary. Retrieved 1 June 2015.