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Species profile—Melaleuca irbyana

Classification

Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → MyrtaceaeMelaleuca irbyana

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Species details

Kingdom
Plantae (plants)
Class
Equisetopsida (land plants)
Family
Myrtaceae
Scientific name
Melaleuca irbyana R.T.Baker
WildNet taxon ID
26403
Synonym(s)
Melaleuca tamariscina subsp. irbyana
Alternate name(s)
bush house paperbark
Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status
Endangered
Conservation significant
Yes
Confidential
No
Endemicity
Native
Pest status
Nil
Description
Melaleuca irbyana is a small tree growing to 8m in height. The bark is papery and white to pale brown in colour. The leaves on the indeterminate shoots (with the outer/lower flowers opening first and the branch continuing to grow) are narrowly ovate in shape, 4-5mm long, 1-1.5mm wide and narrow gradually to a pointed tip. The leaves on the determinate shoots (with the terminal flower opening first, preventing the branch from further growth) are more angular-ovate in shape, 2-3mm long, 1-1.5mm wide, are inserted in shallow hollows on the stem and have prominent dark glands in 4-6 rows.
The flowers are in 6-12 bundles of three, each 10-25mm long and with 8-12 white or cream coloured stamens (filamentous reproductive flower part) per bundle. The fruits are 3-3.5mm long and 3.5-4mm wide. (Byrnes 1984; Barlow 1987)
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Distribution
Melaleuca irbyana is found from Gatton in south-east Queensland, east to Brisbane and also north of Injune, south to near Casino in north-eastern New South Wales. (Craven & Lepschi 1999; Herbrecs 2008)
Distributional limits
-25.2583333, 148.3083333
-27.864132, 153.212
Range derivation
Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
Habitat
Melaleuca irbyana grows in flat areas that are periodically waterlogged, in eucalypt forest, mixed forest and Melaleuca woodland with a sparse and grassy understorey. It grows on poorly draining, heavy clay soils. (Byrnes 1984; Barlow 1987)
Reproduction
Melaleuca irbyana flowers mainly from September to January. (Barlow 1987)
Notes
Contributors: Tony Bean, Mellisa Mayhew 26/06/2009
References
Barlow, B.A. (1987). Contributions of a revision of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae). Brunonia 9(2): 173.
Byrnes, N.B. (1984). A revision of Melaleuca L. (Myrtaceae) in northern and eastern Australia, 1. Austrobaileya 2(1): 72.
Craven, L.A. & Lepschi, B.J. (1999). Enumeration of the species and infraspecific taxa of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) occurring in Australia and Tasmania. Australian Systematic Botany 12(6): 883.
Herbrecs (2008). Melaleuca irbyana, in BriMapper version 2.12. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 09/10/2008.
Profile author
Tony Bean (26/06/2009)

Other resources

Data source

This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=26403.

This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.

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Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Last updated
20 May 2024