Against the Odds: Melaleuca lophocoracorum
Despite existing in an area of only one-kilometre square, the Australian Seed Bank Partnership successfully secured seed from this hard to find Myrtle tree
By Australian Seed Bank Partnership
Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha
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Travelling back in time
There is a special place in far northern Australia near the Queensland coast called the Wet Tropics, recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Area for its Outstanding Universal Value. Walking through these rainforests is like travelling back in time through a living museum.
Melaleuca lophocoracorum fruit by Ross DemuthAustralian Seed Bank Partnership
Unique setting
For those lucky enough to visit the Wet Tropics the experience stays with you for many years. As water drips from the leaves above, you can look up and spot tree kangaroos and flowering orchids in the canopy.
Meanwhile at ground level a giant flightless bird, the cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), searches the leaf litter for fallen fruit. Welcome to the setting of our next story about a unique tree in the Queensland collection.
Very small population
In a very small patch of rainforest, one-kilometre square, grows the entire population of Melaleuca lophocoracorum. This species was discovered during fieldwork in 2012.
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Rare species
Melaleuca lophocoracorum had never been collected before this trip and is now listed as threatened in Queensland, because of its narrow range. With only an estimated 600 individual trees remaining, this species was hard to find.
Melaleuca lophocoracorum fruit by Ross DemuthAustralian Seed Bank Partnership
Easy pickings
Collectors located a patch of trees that had survived a recent bushfire. The crowns (tree tops) were burnt but new shoots were sprouting from the base of the trunks. A small tree, reaching between 2-10 metres in height, the fruit could be easily picked by our collectors.
Melaleuca lophocoracorum inflorescence close up by Ross DemuthAustralian Seed Bank Partnership
Bottle brushes
The leaves are twisted and prickly but still soft to touch. The flowers grow in spikes, looking like pale yellow bottle brushes that have been left hanging in the bush by a recent visitor.
Myrtle family
There are around 300 Melaleuca species that belong to the family Myrtaceae. You may know them by their common names; paperbarks, bottlebrushes and tea trees.
Essential oils, nectar, food
Some produce essential oils that can be extracted from their leaves, like tea tree oil which is used to treat insect bites and stings. The flowers produce a rich, sweet nectar, providing an important food for many insects, birds and mammals.
Melaleuca lophocoracorum inflorescence on tree by Ross DemuthAustralian Seed Bank Partnership
The Global Trees Seed Bank Project
Seeds from Melaleuca lophocoracorum and other threatened tree species from Queensland are being securely stored at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha and duplicated at the Millennium Seed Bank in the UK.
Learn more about the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha via their website.
Stories compiled through a science communication internship at the Australian Seed Bank Partnership with Master of Science Communication student Christine Fernance from the ANU Centre for the Public Awareness of Science.
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