Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Honey Myrtle

(Melaleuca pentagona)

galery
en

Description

Melaleuca pentagona is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a showy, medium-sized shrub which produces large numbers of pink flowers in spring. There are three varieties recognised, one of which has been known in cultivation for many years. Melaleuca pentagona is a medium-sized shrub growing to about 5 m (20 ft) tall with papery grey or white bark. The leaves are arranged alternately along the stem, mostly 8–18 mm (0.3–0.7 in) long and 0.8–5.2 mm (0.03–0.2 in) wide, linear to narrow elliptic in shape and with a groove on the upper surface. The flowers are a shade of pink or purple and arranged in heads at the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. The heads are up to 20 mm (0.8 in) in diameter and contain 3 to 8 groups of flowers in threes. The petals are 0.9–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) long and fall off as the flowers open. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle with 2 to 8 stamens. Flowering time varies with subspecies but in general occurs in spring and summer. The fruit are woody capsules 2.5–3.5 mm (0.098–0.14 in) long, in spherical clusters up to 20 mm (0.8 in) in diameter.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Myrtales
Family:Myrtaceae
Genus:Melaleuca
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