MELALEUCA QUINQUENERVIA GALL
We made this discovery on one of our dog walks the other day. We thought it was a really interesting flower, but knew the tree itself was a young melaleuca tree, and could not find any flowers that matched this type of flower that belonged to the melaleuca tree species.
Our persistence payed off and we learned something really interesting that we had never heard of before. It is in fact a Gall, created by a type of midge (Lophodiplosis trifida Gagne), which is a natural enemy of the melaleuca. The melaleuca gall midge is native to eastern coastal areas of Queensland and NSW Australia. Galls formed by the melaleuca gall midge results in deformed and damaged branches, plant dieback, and sometimes the plant can even be killed by it completely. This happens because the larvae hatch and burrow into the plant stems where their salivary enzymes start gall formation in the melaleuca host.
The melaleuca gall midge was released in Florida where the melaleuca tree is an invasive species in the Florida wetland ecosystem, and has successfully reduced this plant species in this area.
So there goes my theory of this photo being a beautiful and unusual flower, instead it is a pest. But I still think it looks quite pretty.
Photos and content by white.tiger
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Wow! First time I'm hearing about this - certainly an unusual flower! :)
It was a first for me too. It took a lot of research on the internet to find information on this.
That is an interesting gall. Melaleuca is only a pest out of its native environment, where the normal checks to rampant population growth are missing. Some of our native plants are invasive in your country and vice versa. Biological controls have been very helpful for reducing invasive plants
Yes, if people would just leave things where they are supposed to be a lot of these problems could be avoided. The toad which was brought to Queensland from England is the perfect example of that.
I think it seemed like a good idea at the time and it took a few years to realise that it was not
Caught this from @nikv’s resteem. It is a very interesting flower! The whole pest thing, one of my favorite flower is an invasive weed. The morning glory. :(
Thats funny! Yes, pests and weeds can still have a certain beauty to them.
Very interesting post. The first time I learned that insects create similar flowers and, in addition, they are quite beautiful.
Thankyou
That's the prettiest gall I have ever seen. The only one I see with any regularity are the ones on goldenrod.
I never even knew what a gall was until I did this post.😁 Steemit certainly encourages you to learn through research.
That is really pretty , i would like to see it in person myself. It looks like a type of moss.
Yes it does have the texture of a moss, thankyou.😊