Melaleuca fabri facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Melaleuca fabri |
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| Foliage, flowers and fruit of Melaleuca fabri | |
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Melaleuca
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| Species: |
fabri
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Melaleuca fabri is a special plant that belongs to the Myrtaceae family, also known as the myrtle family. This plant is found only in the south-west part of Western Australia. It has unique leaves that look like straps with clear veins. Its flowers are pinkish and grow in spikes, and their buds are covered in soft, silky hairs.
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What Melaleuca fabri Looks Like
Melaleuca fabri is a type of shrub that can grow up to about 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall. It has tough, strap-like leaves that are arranged one after another along the stem. These leaves are usually between 35 and 110 millimetres (1.4 to 4.3 inches) long and 6.5 to 15 millimetres (0.26 to 0.59 inches) wide. The leaves are mostly flat but can be a little wavy. They come to a sharp point at the end and have 3 to 7 clear lines, called veins, running along them.
Flowers and Fruit
The flowers of Melaleuca fabri are pink to purple. They grow in spikes at the ends of branches, and sometimes on the sides too. Even after the flowers bloom, the branches keep growing! Each flower spike can be up to 35 millimetres (1.4 inches) across. They are made up of 12 to 18 groups of three flowers.
The outside of the flower cup and the parts covering the flower buds are covered with soft, white, silky hairs. The petals are small, about 2.3 to 4 millimetres (0.091 to 0.157 inches) long, and they fall off as the flower gets older. Each flower has five groups of stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen. Each group has 9 to 13 stamens.
Melaleuca fabri usually flowers in spring. After the flowers, it produces woody fruits called capsules. These capsules are 3 to 4.5 millimetres (0.12 to 0.18 inches) long and grow in tight bunches along the stem.
Naming and Discovery
The plant Melaleuca fabri was officially described in 1999 by a botanist named Lyndley Craven. He wrote about it in a science journal called Australian Systematic Botany. The first plant he studied was found south of Morawa.
The second part of its scientific name, fabri, comes from a Latin word meaning "craftsman" or "smith". This name was chosen to honor the Smith family. They helped many botanists study the plants in the Wongan Hills and Manmanning areas.
Where Melaleuca fabri Grows
This melaleuca plant is found in a specific area of Western Australia. It grows in places like Morawa, Perenjori, Wubin, and Mount Gibson. These areas are part of what scientists call the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.
You can often find Melaleuca fabri growing in shrubland, in areas with mallee trees, and even along roadsides. It prefers to grow in sandy soil or soil that is a mix of sand and loam.
Conservation Status
The good news is that Melaleuca fabri is not considered to be in danger. The Government of Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife lists it as "not threatened." This means there are enough of these plants in the wild, and they are not at risk of disappearing.
