Melaleuca leptospermoides facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Melaleuca leptospermoides
M. leptospermoides growing in the Charles Gardner Nature Reserve near Tammin
Scientific classification
Genus:	Melaleuca
Species:	leptospermoides

Melaleuca leptospermoides is a cool plant that belongs to the myrtle family, called Myrtaceae. It's a special kind of plant because it's endemic to a small part of Western Australia in the south-west. This means it only grows naturally in that specific area and nowhere else in the world! It's an upright shrub with thin leaves, pretty pink or purple flowers, and small fruits. It looks a bit like another plant called Melaleuca tuberculata, but you can tell them apart because Melaleuca leptospermoides doesn't have brown leaf-like structures (called bracts) at the bottom of its flowers.

About Melaleuca leptospermoides

Melaleuca leptospermoides is a shrub that can grow up to about 1.6 meters (around 5 feet) tall. Its leaves are placed one after another along the stem. They are usually thin and shaped like a narrow oval. These leaves are about 4.5 to 12 millimeters (0.2 to 0.5 inches) long and 1.3 to 6 millimeters (0.05 to 0.2 inches) wide.

Flowers and Fruit

This plant produces beautiful flowers that can be purple, mauve, magenta, or pink. They grow in clusters at the ends of the branches. Each cluster can have one to four groups of flowers, with three flowers in each group. These flower heads can be up to 22 millimeters (about 0.9 inches) across.

Inside each flower, there are five groups of stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen. Each group has 8 to 12 stamens. The plant usually blooms between September and November. After the flowers, small, woody fruits called capsules appear. These capsules are about 4 to 5 millimeters (0.16 to 0.20 inches) long.

Naming and Discovery

This plant was first officially described in 1844 by a scientist named Johannes Conrad Schauer. He published his description in a book called Plantae Preissianae. The second part of its scientific name, leptospermoides, means "like a leptospermum". This tells us that the plant looks similar to other plants in the Leptospermum genus.

Where It Grows

Melaleuca leptospermoides is found in several areas of Western Australia. You can see it from the Cadoux and Brookton areas, stretching eastwards towards the Coolgardie and Lake King regions. It grows in different types of soil, like sand, gravel, or clay. You can often find it on gently rolling sandy plains and near salt lakes.

Conservation Status

Good news! The Government of Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife has listed Melaleuca leptospermoides as "not threatened." This means that currently, there are enough of these plants in the wild, and they are not at risk of disappearing.

Plant Uses

Essential Oils

The leaves of Melaleuca leptospermoides contain special oils called essential oils. These oils are made up mostly of substances called monoterpenes. The amount of oil found in the fresh leaves is usually between 0.2% and 0.5% of their weight. Essential oils are often used in perfumes, cosmetics, and sometimes in traditional medicines.

Images for kids

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  M. leptospermoides flowers

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  M. leptospermoides fruit