Agonis flexuosa (Sprengel) Schauer, Myrtaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 7 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Metrosideros flexuosa Willd.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: willow myrtle, willow-peppermint

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description: 

Genus:  "Shrubs or trees.  Leaves alternate or in alternate clusters, sometimes shortly stalked, usually with a peppermint-like odor when crushed.  Inflorescence of small globular to ellipsoid spikes.  Flowers bisexual, stalkless, each with a bract and 2 floral bracts; sepals 5 and petals 5, all free above a leathery floral tube, persistent petals white, circular or obovate with a short basal claw; stamens free, either 10, with 1 opposite each sepal and 1 opposite each petal or 15-25 with 3-5 opposite each of the sepals, shorter than the petals, anthers opening by longitudinal slits.  Fruit a 3-celled woody capsule"

Species:  "Erect or weeping tree to 10 m, a wind-pruned mallee or small shrub, the branchlets often zigzagging.  Leaves alternate, very narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate, 20-120 mm long and 3.5-12 mm wide, flat or somewhat twisted, tip pointed.  Flower clusters axillary, globular; bracts broad, 1-1.5 mm long, hairy at least on keel, rounded.  Flowers white; sepals 1-2 mm long, hairy, usually pointed, petals 3-6 mm long, stamens 15-25, with 3-5 opposite each sepal" 

"There are 2 varieties.  The most common, var. flexuosa, has narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate flat leaves 45-120 mm long and 4 or 5 stamens opposite each sepal, whereas var. latifolia has broader, somewhat  twisted leaves 20-45 mm long with the margin sometimes minutely indented and 3 or 4 stamens opposite each sepal.  The latter variety may be the result of hybridisation between Agonis flexuosa var. flexuosa and Agonis hypericifolia"  (Wheeler, 2002; p. 683).

Habitat/ecology:  In its native habitat in Western Australia:  "Various habitats from coastal heath to karri forest.  Widespread in near-coastal areas of the region.  Peppermint is extensively planted as a street tree"  (Wheeler, 2002; p. 683).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Western Australia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2011) Harold L. Lyon Arboretum

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Western Australia

Additional information:
Additional online information about Agonis flexuosa is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Agonis flexuosa as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Agonis flexuosa may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2011. Annotated Checklist of Cultivated Plants of Hawai‘i (online searchable database).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wheeler, Judy. 2002. Flora of the South West: Dicotyledons, Volume 2. UWA Publishing. 502 pp. .