''Melaleuca pearsonii'', commonly known as Blackdown bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. (Some Australian state herbaria continue to use the name ''Callistemon pearsonii''.) It is a small, spreading but compact shrub with hard bark, soft foliage and profuse spikes of bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer.

Description

''Melaleuca pearsonii'' is a shrub growing to high and wide, with hard, fibrous bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat, linear to narrow egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base. The leaf veins are indistinct but there are many distinct oil glands. The flowers are red, tipped with yellow and are arranged in short spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and also on the sides of the branches. The spikes are in diameter with 20 to 40 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages and there are 25-39 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs mainly in spring and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca pearsonii'' was first named in 2006 by

Lyndley Craven Lyndley Alan Craven (3 September 1945 – 11 July 2014) was a botanist who became the Principal Research Scientist of the Australian National Herbarium. Lyndley ("Lyn") Craven worked for the CSIRO plant taxonomy unit of the New Guinea Survey Gro ...

Novon The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million s ...

when ''Callistemon pearsonii'' was moved to the present

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

. It had previously been known as ''Callistemon pearsonii'', formally described by Roger Spencer and Peter Lumley in 1986 in Muelleria, based on plant material collected from the Blackdown Tabeland. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''pearsonii'') honours Steven Pearson, a park ranger in the Blackdown Tableland National Park. ''Callistemon pearsonii'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca pearsonii'' by the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca pearsonii'' occurs on the Blackdown Tableland in

. It grows near rivers, in rocky gullies and in wallum vegetation in creek beds.

Use in horticulture

''Melaleuca pearsonii'' is sometimes cultivated as '' Callistemon pearsonii'' including the cultivar "Rocky Rambler".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5022785 pearsonii Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1986