Melaleuca howeana
Encyclopedia
Melaleuca howeana is a shrub or bush to 3 m tall in the myrtle family
. It grows at the Lord Howe Island
group. Common in exposed areas, on cliffs and ridges, occasionally forming pure stands.
A dense bush with small leaves, 4 to 9 mm long and 1 to 1.5 mm wide, alternate on the stem. As with many paperbarks, the bark is flaky. Branchlets hairless. White flowers form from mid September to December. The fruit is a small wooden capsule.
This plant is best known as the habitat for the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect
, a critically endangered species. The bush at Balls Pyramid is growing in a small crevice where water seeps through cracks in the underlying rocks. This moisture supports a relatively lush plant growth which resulted in a build-up of plant debris, several metres deep. The population of insects was extremely small, only 24 individuals that fed on this plant.
Myrtaceae
The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...
. It grows at the Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...
group. Common in exposed areas, on cliffs and ridges, occasionally forming pure stands.
A dense bush with small leaves, 4 to 9 mm long and 1 to 1.5 mm wide, alternate on the stem. As with many paperbarks, the bark is flaky. Branchlets hairless. White flowers form from mid September to December. The fruit is a small wooden capsule.
This plant is best known as the habitat for the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect
Dryococelus australis
Dryococelus australis, commonly known as the Lord Howe Island stick insect or tree lobster, is a species of stick insect which lives on the Lord Howe Island Group. It was thought to be extinct by 1930, only to be rediscovered in 2001...
, a critically endangered species. The bush at Balls Pyramid is growing in a small crevice where water seeps through cracks in the underlying rocks. This moisture supports a relatively lush plant growth which resulted in a build-up of plant debris, several metres deep. The population of insects was extremely small, only 24 individuals that fed on this plant.