''Melaleuca comboynensis'', commonly known as cliff 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 ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

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 comboynensis''.) It is usually a shrub, similar to '' Melaleuca citrina'' with its hard leaves, spikes of red flowers and clusters of cup-shaped fruits but differs in that its leaves are generally wider and its habitat is usually rocky outcrops rather than along watercourses. Melaleuca comboynensis (Gibraltar Ra

Description

''Melaleuca comboynensis'' is a small shrub or tree growing to tall with hard bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat, narrow egg-shaped with the narrower end near the base and with the end tapering to a point. The flowers are arranged in spikes usually near the end of the branches. The spikes are up to long and wide with 15 to 50 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages. There are 31 to 41

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s in each flower, with their "stalks" (the filaments) red to crimson and "tips" (the anthers) a dark purple. Flowering occurs from March to December and is followed by fruit that are woody capsules, long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca comboynensis'' 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 ...

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 ...

''. It was first formally described in 1943 as ''Callistemon comboynensis'' by

Edwin Cheel Edwin Cheel (14 February 1872 – 19 September 1951) was an Australian botanist and collector. Before being appointed as a staff member of Centennial Park in 1897 he was a gardener in New South Wales and Queensland. Later he transferred to the R ...

in ''

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales ( Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society suc ...

''. His specimen was collected in the " Comboyne Ranges in crevices of rocks". 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 ...

(''comboynensis'') refers to the location where the type specimen was found. ''Callistemon comboynensis'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca comboynensis'' 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 occurs in the high country in and between the Border Ranges in southern Queensland and the

Gibraltar Range The Gibraltar Range is a mountain range in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The range extends off the Great Dividing Range at Bald Nob about east northeast of and trends generally east northeast and north northea ...

in northern New South Wales. It also occurs in the lower

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

districts of north-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. It mostly grows on rocky hilltops and crevices above .

Use in horticulture

''Melaleuca comboynensis'' is well known in cultivation as an attractive and hardy shrub for temperate areas. Image:Callistemon comboynensis HRM1.jpg, In the Royal Botanic Garden in Madrid arboretum Image:Callistemon comboynensis.jpg, In Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid Image:Melaleuca comboynensis flowers.jpg, In the

Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is a botanical garden located in a hilly area of the southwestern Sydney suburb of , between Campbelltown and Camden, New South Wales. It is the largest botanical garden in Australia, specializing in ...

Image:Melaleuca comboynensis habit.jpg, On Waratah Trig in the

Gibraltar Range National Park Gibraltar Range is a national park in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, north-east of Glen Innes and north of Sydney. The Park is part of the Washpool and Gibraltar Range area of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Au ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5022779 comboynensis Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1943 Taxa named by Edwin Cheel