Melaleuca viridiflora

Family

Myrtaceae

Botanical Name

Melaleuca viridiflora Sol. ex Gaertn.

Gaertner, J. (1788) De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum 1: 173. Type: Ex herbario Banksiano. [given by S.T.Blake, Contr. Queensland Herb. 1 (1968) 36 as [Queensland, Endeavour River, July-August 1770.

Synonyms

Melaleuca viridiflora Gaertn. var. viridiflora, Austrobaileya 2(3): 74(1984), Type: ?.

Common name

Broad-leaved Tea Treee; Paperbark Tea Tree; Broad Leaved Paperbark; Greenflowered Paperbark; Paperbark; Broad-leafed Teatree; Paperbark Tree; Swamp Tea Tree; White Tea Tree

Stem

Dead bark layered and very papery.

Leaves

Freshly crushed leaves have an aromatic odour perhaps resembling mango (Mangifera indica). Leaf blades about 4-5 times as long as wide, about 8-16 x 1.5-4 cm, with 5-7 longitudinal veins more prominent than the rest. Young shoots and twigs clothed in white or silver, prostrate hairs.

Flowers

Inflorescences about 35-40 mm wide. Flowers usually in threes. Stamens about 14-20 mm long, +/- fused in five bundles opposite the petals.

Fruit

Capsules sessile, glabrous, about 4-5 x 4-5 mm. Seeds oblong, brown, about 1 x 0.25 mm, wingless.

Seedlings

Cotyledons obovate, about 2 mm long. At the tenth leaf stage: leaves narrowly elliptic, glabrous; oil dots small, visible with a lens.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in WA, NT, CYP, NEQ and southwards to south-eastern Queensland. Altitudinal range from sea level to 450 m. This species exists in a number of forms, and the form or forms which grow in association with rain forest are the taller ones often associated with swampy conditions. Also occurs in New Guinea.

Natural History

A beautiful small tree which is beginning to be noticed in horticulture. Prefers soils that are seasonally wet. Flowers cream to pink or red.

WA

X

NT

X

CYP

X

NEQ

X

Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall)

X

Tree

X

RFK Code

980