page_title: Melaleuca sparsiflora
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Melaleuca sparsiflora / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Melaleuca sparsiflora (habit)
context_page_description: Melaleuca sparsiflora is a shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It generally grows in heavy soils on the edges of salt lakes and has only one or two flowers at the ends of it branches, unlike the many-flowered heads or spikes of others in the genus Melaleuca.
context_section_description: Melaleuca sparsiflora is a shrub which grows to a height of up to 4 m (10 ft). Its leaves are arranged in alternating pairs at right angles to the ones above and below (decussate) so that the leaves are in four rows along the stems. They are 3–8 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long, 1–2.2 mm (0.04–0.09 in) wide, covered with short, soft hairs, narrow elliptic or narrow egg-shaped and crescent-shaped in cross section.
  
  The flowers are white or cream, a single flower (or rarely a pair) on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and are about 10 mm (0.4 in) in diameter. The petals are 3.5 mm (0.1 in) long and fall off as the flowers mature. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle with 11 to 26 stamens. Flowers appear in spring and the fruit that follow are woody capsules 3.8–5.5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long.
caption: M. sparsiflora growing in the Dowak Nature Reserve
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS CORPORATION", "Image Model": "TG-4", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "314", "Image YResolution": "314", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Version 1.0", "Image DateTime": "2016:08:24 16:50:25", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "194", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "S", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[32, 53, 957/25]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[121, 36, 1341/100]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "0/0", "GPS GPSStatus": "A", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "M", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "229", "Image GPSInfo": "674", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 37, 0, 1, 0, 20, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "16084", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9702", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:08:24 16:50:25", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:08:24 16:50:25", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "11/2", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "884", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "30", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}