''Melaleuca phoenicea'', commonly known as scarlet bottlebrush or lesser 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 ...

to the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. (Some Australian state herbaria continue to use the name ''Callistemon phoeniceus''.) The

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

peoples know the plant as tubada. It is a shrub with thick, blue-green leaves and spikes of scarlet bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer.

Description

''Melaleuca phoenicea'' is a large shrub or small tree growing to high. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat and linear to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base. The leaves are thick and bluish-green and have a mid-vein, 11–18 indistinct lateral veins and prominent oil glands. The flowers are brilliant red or rich scarlet and are arranged in spikes on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering and also on the sides of the branches. The spikes are in diameter with 15 to 55 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages. There are 39–56 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs mainly from October to January but also at other times of the year and is followed by fruit that are woody capsules, long. Melaleuca phoenicea (near Geraldton)

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca phoenicea'' 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 phoeniceus'' was transferred 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 been formally described in 1839 by botanist John Lindley in "A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony" as ''Callistemon phoeniceum'', later revised to ''Callistemon phoeniceus''. 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 ...

(''phoenicea'') is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word '' phoeniceus'', in turn derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word ''phoinix'' meaning "purple-red", referring to the flower colour. ''Callistemon phoeniceus'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca phoenicea'' 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

This melaleuca grows in the south west of Western Australia but there are also scattered populations in some of the more arid areas of that state. It grows in sandy soils, often along watercourses.

Use in horticulture

''Melaleuca phoenicea'' is often cultivated as '' Callistemon phoeniceus''. It is hardy and will grow in most soils provided there is adequate moisture and exposure to the sun. It benefits from light pruning and the application of fertiliser.

Gallery

Image:Callistemon Phoeniceus @ National Botanic Garden Of Wales (3706147131).jpg, In the

National Botanic Garden of Wales The National Botanic Garden of Wales ( cy, Gardd Fotaneg Genedlaethol Cymru) is a botanical garden located in Llanarthney in the River Tywi valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The garden is both a visitor attraction and a centre for botanical rese ...

Image:Melaleuca phoenicea (near Woodanilling).jpg, Habit near Woodanilling Image:Melaleuca phoenicea (habit, Kings Park).jpg, In Kings Park,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Image:Melaleuca phoenicea (flowers, Kings Park).jpg, In Kings Park Image:Melaleuca phoenicea (mature fruit).jpg, Mature fruit

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5022786 phoenicea Plants described in 1839 Endemic flora of Western Australia