ISSUE 110 M is for MYRTACEAE VOLUME 16 uniqeness of our flora. Many are important horticulturally Text and photos by Eng Pin Tay Kings Park Botanic Gardens, Perth

If you were to choose a plant family that well represents Australia, it has to be Myrtaceae. With well over 1000 spe- cies in Western Australia alone, it is possibly the biggest plant family amongst the big five, the others being Papil- ionaceae or Fabaceae (Bean Family), Proteaceae (Banksia Family), Poaceae (Grass Family) and Mimosaceae (Wattle Family). Years ago, when I was learning about the plant ecology of South East Asia, I could not help but wonder why endemic Leptospermum recurvum, found between the altitudes of 2400 and 2700 m on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo and Baeckea fru- tescens found on a quartzite ridge in Peninsular Malaysia were considered „Australian elements‟ in the local flora. Only after I arrived here did I realise that there are more than 75 species of Leptospermum and more than 70 species of Baeckea in Australia. These numbers may have increased with more studies in recent years. While Baeckea frutescens is distributed as far as southern parts of China and Lepto- spermum may be found as far north as the Philippines and Myanmar, these two genera definitely have their centre of Hypocalymma robustum, the Swan River Myrtle, is native diversity in Australia. With more than 600 species of euca- to Kings Park lypts found here plus many more from other genera, it is no exaggeration that you have a very high probability of striking a member of the Myrtaceae family when you throw a stick randomly during a bush walk. The family Myrtaceae forms an irreplaceable element in our natural landscape. From the tropics though to the arid interior, right down to the south coast, many Myrtaceae occupy a place in our varied vegetation. Early explorers would have marvelled at the smooth, errie white truncks of the ghost gums or the melaleuca bark that peels off like pa- per, when they first set foot on the uncharted territory of Terra Australis or New Holland. I personally cannot imag- ine an Australian treescape without gum trees. Besides the aforesaid, Western Australia has a large number of other endemic Myrtaceae genera such as Actinodium Agonis, Balaustion, Beaufortia, Calothamnus, Chamelau- cium, Conothamnus, Eremaea, Homalospermum, Hypoca- lymma, Malleostemon, Pericalymma, Pileanthus, Regelia, Pericalymma, another genus endemic to the South West Region of Western Australia. Rinzia and Scholtzia contribute significantly to the PAGE 3