Melaleuca recurva
Tinaroo Bottlebrush
Tinaroo Bottlebrush
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)