Melaleuca recurva

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids >  Myrtaceae > Melaleuca recurva

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Tinaroo Bottlebrush

Conservation status:  unknown

Etymology:   

• Melaleuca is derived from the Ancient Greek μέλας (mélas) meaning "dark" or "black" and λευκός (leukós) meaning "white"

• The specific epithet (recurva) is a Latin word meaning "recurved", referring to the leaves often being slightly bent backwards

Flowers:                  

• he flowers are bright red tipped with yellow and are arranged in spikes on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering, sometimes also in the upper leaf axils

• The spikes are 35–50 mm in diameter

• The petals are 2.5–4 mm  long, fall off as the flower ages and there are 26-36 stamens in each flower

• Flowering occurs throughout the year but mainly in the cooler months 

Fruit:                         

• Fruits are woody capsules, 4.6–6.5 mm long

Leaves:         

• Leaves are arranged alternately and are 15–55 mm long, 2–9 mm  wide, flat and narrow egg-shaped with the end tapering to a point

• The leaves have indistinct veins and randomly distributed oil glands

Stem & branches: 

• The young leaves and branches have fine, silky hairs pressed against their surfaces

• Has hard, fibrous bark

Roots:         

• x

Habit:        

• A shrub or small tree growing to 7 m 

Habitat:   

• Grows in dense scrubland and on rocky outcrops near rivers

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to higher areas of far northern Queensland 

• Queensland from the Atherton Tableland south to the Bowen district 

Species:                     

• World:           

• Australia:     

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy and naming

  • It was first named in 2006 by Lyndley Craven in Novon when Callistemon recurvus was moved to the present genus

  • Callistemon recurvus was first formally described in 1990 by Roger David Spencer and Peter Lumley in Muelleria from a specimen collected on Mount Stewart, east of Herberton

• Use in horticulture

  • It is often cultivated due to the presence of flowers through most of the year

Sources of information:

• (2023)