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Myrtaceae

Subfamily Heteropyxideae

W/C = Wild Collected
Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) S.T.Blake

  • Query IPNI
  • Common Name: Niaouli
  • Family: Myrtaceae Juss.

  • Country of Origin: New South Wales, Queensland, New Calendonia, Papau New Guinea
  • Habitat: an invasive species in southern US.

  • Description: Resiniferous evergreen tree to 30 m tall, 1 m diameter, with whitish papery bark, often exfoliating. Leaves alternate, dull green, narrowly lanceolate, oblanceolate, or lance-elliptic, 5-20 cm long, 5-35 mm wide, apically and basally acute, entire, pli-nerved, aromatic, the petiole 2-4 mm long. Flowers ramiflorous, between or below groups of leaves in "bottlebrush spikes" 4-15 cm long, often producing apical foliaceous shoots following flowering. Calyx with 5 rounded lobes <2 mm long, and 5 somewhat longer whitish petals, ca 30 filiform stamens and inferior 2-4 celled ovary with many ovules. Capsules sessile, crowded along the branches, with many minute narrow brown seeds <2 m long.

  • Uses: The source of one of the tea tree oils called niaouli oil.
Restrictions:

  • Potentially Invasive Plant - Plants are not to leave Greenhouse!
Images of this accession: {and/or its current location}

 

Accession Data:

  • Accession # 199000071
  • Source: SCE/Florida
  • Accession Date: 09-11-1990
  • Bench: 1217 - AUS:Queensland B
  • Qty: 1 confirmed on 11-02-2009
Classification:

  • Division: Magnoliophyta
  • Class: Magnoliopsida
  • SubClass: rosids
  • Order: Myrtales
  • SubOrder:
  • Family: Myrtaceae
  • SubFamily:
  • Tribe:
  • SubTribe:
References:

New Crop Homepage Personal Communication with F. Allen Dray Jr., USDA, ARS Invasive Plant Research Lab - January 10, 2001

page generated on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:36:53 -0500

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