Melaleuca viridiflora
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Broad-leaved paperbark
|image = Melaleuca viridiflora 7286.jpg
|image_caption =
|genus = Melaleuca
|species = viridiflora
|synonyms =
- Cajuputi viridiflora (Sol. ex Gaertn.) A.Lyons
- Melaleuca cunninghamii var. glabra C.T.White
- Melaleuca leucadendra var. sanguinea Cheel
- Melaleuca leucadendra var. viridiflora (Sol. ex Gaertn.) Cheel
- Melaleuca sanguinea Cheel
- Melaleuca viridiflora var. attenuata Byrnes
- Melaleuca viridiflora var. canescens Byrnes
- Melaleuca viridiflora var. glabra (C.T.White) Byrnes
- Myrtoleucodendron viridiflorum (Sol. ex Gaertn.) Kuntze
}}
File:Melaleuca viridiflora distribution.svg
Melaleuca viridiflora, commonly known as broad-leaved paperbark,{{cite web|title=Melaleuca viridiflora|url=http://anpsa.org.au/m-vir.html|publisher=Australian Native Plants Society (Australia)|accessdate=8 June 2015}} is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is native to woodlands, swamps and streams in monsoonal areas of northern Australia and New Guinea. It is usually a small tree with an open canopy, papery bark and spikes of cream, yellow, green or red flowers.
Description
Melaleuca viridiflora is a shrub or small tree usually growing to {{convert|10|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} tall, sometimes twice that height, with white, brownish or grey bark and an open canopy. Its leaves are {{convert|70-195|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|19-76|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide, thick, broadly elliptic and aromatic.{{cite book|last1=Brophy|first1=Joseph J.|last2=Craven|first2=Lyndley A.|last3=Doran|first3=John C.|title=Melaleucas : their botany, essential oils and uses|date=2013|publisher=Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research|location=Canberra|isbn=9781922137517|page=327}}{{cite book|last1=Holliday|first1=Ivan|title=Melaleucas : a field and garden guide|date=2004|publisher=Reed New Holland Publishers|location=Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.|isbn=1876334983|pages=268–269|edition=2nd}}{{cite web |access-date=21 April 2021 |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/Melaleuca_viridiflora.htm |title=Melaleuca viridiflora |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants (RFK8) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government}}
The flowers are cream, yellow, yellow-green or occasionally red and arranged in spikes on the ends of branch which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. Each spike contains 8 to 25 groups of flowers in threes and is up to {{convert|100|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|55|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} in diameter. The petals are {{convert|4-5.3|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and fall off as the flower matures. There are five bundles of stamens around the flower, each with 6 or 9 stamens although the stamens are only weakly joined in bundles. Flowering can occur at any time of the year but most commonly happens in winter. Flowering is followed by fruit which are woody capsules {{convert|5-6|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long, scattered along the stem, each containing numerous fine seeds.
Taxonomy and naming
Melaleuca viridiflora was first formally described in 1788 by Daniel Solander, the description published by Joseph Gaertner in De fructibus et seminibus plantarum{{cite book|last1=Gaertner|first1=Joseph|last2=Solander|first2=Daniel|title=De fructibus et seminibus plantarum|date=1788|volume=1 |location=London|page=173|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/114363#page/371/mode/1up|accessdate=8 June 2015}}{{cite web|title=Melaleuca viridiflora|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/boa/instance/apni/546105|publisher=APNI|accessdate=9 June 2015}} including a carefully drawn figure of the stamen bundle and fruiting capsules.{{cite book|last1=Gaertner|first1=Joseph|last2=Solander|first2=Daniel|title=De fructibus et seminibus plantarum (Figure 35)|date=1788|volume=1 |location=London|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/114363#page/626/mode/1up|accessdate=8 June 2015}} The description was made during the forced stay of the Endeavour on the banks of the Endeavour River, at the site of the present-day Cooktown, during the first voyage of James Cook.{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Cheryll|title=Medicinal plants in Australia (Volume 2)|date=2010|publisher=Rosenberg|location=Dural, N.S.W.|isbn=9781877058943|page=285|edition=1st}} The specific epithet (viridiflora) means "green-flowered", referring to the most common flower colour of this species.
Distribution and habitat
This melaleuca occurs in tropical areas of Australia, including as far south as Maryborough in Queensland, northern parts of Western Australia south to the Dampier Peninsula district, and the northern half of the Northern Territory. It is also found in the southern part of West Papua in Indonesia and southern Papua New Guinea. It grows on the margins of gallery forest, in forest, woodland and swampy plains in a variety of soils.
Ecology
Melaleuca viridiflora forests provide habitat for orchid species including the rare, threatened or endangered Calochilus psednus, Pachystoma pubescens, Eulophia bicallosa and Cardwell midge orchid (Genoplesium tectum). Individual trees often host the epiphytic ant-house plant, (Myrmecodia beccarii).{{cite web|title=Melaleuca forests and woodlands|url=http://www.wettropics.gov.au/site/user-assets/docs/factsheets/wtmaVMWTB50a-59g.pdf|publisher=Wet Tropics Management Authority|accessdate=9 June 2015}}
Plants distributed in south-eastern Florida in 1900 under the name Melaleuca viridiflora have been subsequently identified as Melaleuca quinquenervia.{{cite journal |last=Dray Jr. |first=F. Allen. |author2=Bradley C. Bennett |author3=Ted D. Center |year=2006 |title=Invasion History of Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) S.T. Blake in Florida |journal=Castanea |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages= 210–225|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.2179/05-27.1?prevSearch= |doi=10.2179/05-27.1|s2cid=86821692 |doi-access=free }}
Uses
=Traditional uses=
Melaleuca viridiflora is used by Aboriginal Australians for multiple uses. The bark is peeled off in layers and is used for shelter, bedding, containers, storing and cooking food, fire tinder, watercraft, fish traps and wrapping corpses. In traditional medicine, an infusion from leaves was drunk, inhaled or used for bathing to treat coughs, colds, congestion, headache, fever and influenza.Brock, J., Top End Native Plants, 1988. {{ISBN|0-7316-0859-3}}
=Essential oils=
Different populations of this species yield different oils but there are two distinct groups. One is rich in terpenic oil but otherwise highly variable with three distinct chemotypes. Another population is rich in methyl cinnamate with two chemotypes.{{cite book|editor-last1=Southwell |editor-first1=Ian|editor-last2=Lowe |editor-first2=Robert|title=Tea tree : the genus melaleuca|date=1999|publisher=Harwood Academic|location=Amsterdam|isbn=9057024179|pages=266–270}}
=Horticulture=
Melaleuca viridiflora is a useful and adaptable small tree in cultivation, with the red-flowered form being preferred.{{cite book|last1=Wrigley|first1=John W.|last2=Fagg|first2=Murray|title=Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping|date=1983|publisher=Collins|location=Sydney|isbn=0002165759|page=352|edition=2nd}} It is suitable for tropical and subtropical areas where there is high summer rainfall, especially in heavy clay soils. Its open canopy makes it a useful host tree for epiphytes such as
Gallery
File:Melaleuca viridiflora.jpg|Habitat near Canal Creek, Queensland
File:Flower of Melaleuca viridiflora (red-flowering form).JPG|Red-flowered form
File:Melaleuca viridiflora foliage and fruit.jpg|Foliage and capsules
File:Melaleuca viridiflora bark.jpg|Bark
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3854088}}
Category:Myrtales of Australia
Category:Flora of the Northern Territory