5603.000 Melaleuca L.

Fayaz, F. (2011) Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants Firefly Books, New Zealand

Description of the genus

Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate or opposite-decussate, petiolate or sessile, lamina leathery, secondary veins basal and parallel to leaf axis or pinnate. Inflorescence spikes, arranged in spikes or heads and pseudo-terminal or lateral. Flowers bisexual; hypanthium sub-globose or campanulate; sepals 5, caduceus or persistent; petals 5. Fruit capsules, semi-globose to globose, apically dehiscent. Seeds obovoid, testa thin.

Derivation of name: from the Greek: melas meaning black, and leukos, white, because the first Melaleuca described had white branches against a black trunk, possibly blackened by fire.

Worldwide: 246 species in Indo-China to Australia.

Zambia: 3 cultivated taxa.

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Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
hypericifolia Sm.
leucadendron L.
styphelioides Sm.

Other sources of information about Melaleuca:

Our websites:

Flora of Malawi: cultivated Melaleuca
Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Melaleuca
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Melaleuca

External websites:

ePIC (electronic Plant Information Center): Melaleuca
Flora Zambesiaca web site: Melaleuca
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
GRIN (Germplasm Resources Information Network) taxonomy for plants report for Melaleuca
Wikipedia: Melaleuca
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Melaleuca
Kew Herbarium catalogue: Melaleuca

Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-23

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2023). Flora of Zambia: Cultivated plants: genus page: Melaleuca.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/cult/genus.php?genus_id=2112, retrieved 30 March 2023

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