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Melaleuca capitata

species of plant

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ15370130
Source-derived summary

Melaleuca capitata is a shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It has scaly bark, a densely foliaged habit and attractive heads of creamy-yellow flowers on the ends of its branches in summer.

Description

Melaleuca capitata grows to 2 m (7 ft) tall and about 1.5 m (5 ft) wide and has very hairy young branches. Its leaves are glabrous, narrow elliptical in shape, 10–25 mm (0.4–1 in) long, 1–3 mm (0.04–0.1 in) wide and taper to a sharp point.

The flowers are cream-colored and grouped in a short spike or a head at the ends of the branches which continue to grow after flowering. Each head contains 3 to 15 flowers and can be as large as 35 mm (1 in) in diameter. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower and there are 15 to 33 stamens in each bundle. Flowering occurs between October and December and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules. These are spherical to urn-shaped, about 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and arranged in loose clusters along the stem.

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca capitata was first formally described in 1924 by Edwin Cheel in Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales from specimens collected in or near the present day Morton and Budawang national parks.

Editorial summary

“Melaleuca capitata” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Melaleuca, capitata and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1924—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Melaleuca, capitata and species.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Melaleuca capitata” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Melaleuca, capitata and species provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15370130. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1924.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Melaleuca capitata”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Melaleuca capitata primary sources, Melaleuca capitata archive and Melaleuca research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Melaleuca capitata”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Melaleuca capitata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.