Melaleuca stipitata facts for kids

Melaleuca stipitata is a special plant from the myrtle family. It grows only in a small area of the Northern Territory in Australia. This plant is quite rare because it was only discovered in 1991. It's also unusual because it's the only known Melaleuca plant that has flowers with little stalks. The leaves of Melaleuca stipitata have an essential oil that smells like fresh lemons. This oil might even be useful for making commercial products!

What Does Melaleuca stipitata Look Like?

Melaleuca stipitata is usually a shrub or a small tree. It can grow to be about 4 meters (13 feet) tall. It has grey, papery bark that often peels off. Its branches and twigs are smooth, meaning they don't have any hairs.

The leaves of this plant grow one after another along the stem. They are flat and narrow, but their exact shape can change. They are usually between 1.85 and 7.5 centimeters (0.7 to 3 inches) long. They are also very thin, only about 0.8 to 4.8 millimeters (0.03 to 0.19 inches) wide.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers of Melaleuca stipitata are white or cream-colored. They grow in spikes at the ends of the branches. Sometimes, the branches keep growing even after the flowers have bloomed. These flower spikes are up to 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches) across. Each spike has 3 to 12 groups of flowers, with three flowers in each group. You can often see leaves mixed in with the flowers on the spike.

The petals of the flowers are small, about 1.5 to 1.8 millimeters (0.06 to 0.07 inches) long. They fall off as the flower gets older. The part of the flower that holds the petals and other parts, called the floral cup, has a short stalk. This is very unusual for a melaleuca plant! Melaleuca stipitata flowers in December. After flowering, it produces small, woody, cup-shaped fruits called capsules. These fruits are about 2.2 to 3 millimeters (0.09 to 0.12 inches) long.

How Melaleuca stipitata Got Its Name

Scientists first officially described Melaleuca stipitata in 1997. It was described by two scientists, Lyndley Craven and Bryan Barlow. They found a sample of the plant near the Bukbukluk Lookout along the Kakadu Highway.

The second part of its scientific name, stipitata, comes from a New Latin word. It means "borne on a stalk." This name refers to the unusual stalked floral cup of its flowers. This special feature helped scientists give the plant its unique name.

Where Does Melaleuca stipitata Live?

This melaleuca plant is found in the Bukbukluk area. This area is located inside the famous Kakadu National Park in Australia. It likes to grow in woodlands on slopes that have a type of rock called shale.

Essential Oils from Melaleuca stipitata

The oil taken from the leaves of Melaleuca stipitata has a lovely lemon scent. This oil is mostly made up of chemicals called monoterpenoids. About 43% of these monoterpenoids are types of citral, which include neral and geranial. The oil also contains about 10% terpinen-4-ol.

Scientists think this plant might be useful for making products because of these chemicals. Citral and terpinen-4-ol have properties that can help stop the growth of tiny germs. This means the plant could be used in things like cleaning products or other items that need to fight microbes.