''Melaleuca quercina'', commonly known as Oakey bottlebrush is a plant in the myrtle family,

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 to a small area of Queensland in

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 use the name ''Callistemon quercinus''.) It is small tree with dark, corky bark and spikes of yellow, cream or pink bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer.

Description

''Melaleuca quercina'' is a large shrub or small tree growing to tall with dark, corky bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, more or less flat and elliptical in shape with a longer stalk than other melaleucas. The leaves have a mid-vein and 11–20 lateral veins. The flowers are a shade of yellow or pink and are arranged in spikes in diameter with 15 to 40 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages and there are 70 to 94 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs from October to February and is followed by fruit that are woody capsules, long in loose clusters along the stem.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca quercina'' was first formally described in 2009 by Lyndley Craven in ''

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 ...

'' from a specimen found near Oakey Creek. 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 ...

(''quercina'') refers to the oak genus '' Quercus'' in the

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

family

Fagaceae The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergre ...

and hence the location Oakey Creek near

Oakey Oakey is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. The Museum of Army Aviation is located at Oakey Airport. Geography The town is situated on the eastern side of the Darling Downs and the Toowoomba Region lo ...

in Queensland. ''Callistemon quercinus'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca quercina'' by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca quercina'' occurs in the Oakey and Dalby districts in Queensland, where it grows along the banks and flats of creeks in dark clay soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17596318 quercina Flora of Queensland Plants described in 2009 Taxa named by Lyndley Craven