Dryland Tea-tree
New Buds
Ellura
Dryland Tea-tree
Bud Opening
 
                      
Dryland Tea-tree (Melaleuca lanceolata)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida)
Order: Myrtles (Myrtales)
Family: Myrtle (Myrtaceae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Dryland Tea-tree (Melaleuca lanceolata)
This Photo:     Buds Nearly Open
Other names: Sir Lancelot, Black Paperbark, Black Tea-tree, Moonah, Rottnest Island Teatree or Western Tea-tree

Thank you Ralph Foster & Alan Dandie (Alan_Dandie) for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
If you live on the coast you'd have no problem understanding this species is a tree. But if you live in the semi-arid regions of Australia, you may well question this, as this species is generally stunted and most specimens are bushes.
It is a characteristic of this species to be very variable in it's habit, depending on location (particularly based on water supply).
A very common, small, round, woody shrub tree.
It has very brittle thin branches that snap easily, with crusty brown bark.
The young growth is deceptively soft, but quickly stiffens up and becomes almost prickly, certainly scratchy.
Flowers form white bottle-brushes.
Being an arid environment, our specimens are quite stunted to those seen on the coast.
The flowers show the same style as the related Eucalypts, with the stamen being the dominant part of the flower.
We were keen to see how the pods formed, so photographed this series showing the flower receptacle (base of flower) turning into the seed pod.
Similar Species: Mallee Honey-myrtle (Melaleuca acuminata ssp acuminata)

Copyright © 2013-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 29-Jan-2013
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)