Assignment/exercise
UniSC Plant Profile - Myrtaceae, Melaleuca thymifolia
University of the Sunshine Coast
2023
Appears in UniSC Plant Profiles
Abstract
Melaleuca thymifolia, is a small shrub to 1m tall. It is endemic to Australia, and it can be found along most of the NSW coast and South East Queensland (ANBG, 2015). M. thymifolia flowers from November to April with very eye- catching purple flower clusters up to 2cm long. The flowers are sessile, have reduced petals and many, dramatic stamens (Clarke and Lee, 2003). The small, oppositely arranged elliptic thyme like leaves are up to 1.5cm long (Haslam, 2020 and PlantNET, 1991). Consistent with its genus, M. thymifolia has a somewhat papery bark (Queensland Department of NPSR, 2015). It is a very popular garden plant due to its showy floral displays and its general hardiness; it is even able to withstand frosts and droughts (ANBG, 2015). The oil from M. thymifolia has shown to be an effective antimicrobial agent, as well as exhibiting antiviral and fungicidal properties. This has been a long-known fact for Indigenous Australians who have been using the oils from the Melaleuca genus for thousands of years to treat skin infections. The active oil in M. thymifolia was found to be more effective against Staphylococcus aureus than the antibiotics Gentamicin and Streptomycin (Silva, Barbosa, Demuner, Montanari, Pinheiro, Dias and Andrade, 2010).
Details
- Title
- UniSC Plant Profile - Myrtaceae, Melaleuca thymifolia
- Authors
- Rebecca Russell - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Location
- Latitude: -27.270 Longitude: 152.983; UniSC Moreton Bay Campus, on Moreton Parade, close to walkway into main building.
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date collected
- 18-Mar-2023
- Date published
- 2023
- Copyright note
- (c) The Author. Reproduced with permission.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991093995902621
- Output Type
- Assignment/exercise; Plant Profile Sheet
- Teaching and Learning
- ENS221; Plant Diversity and Ecology
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