''Melaleuca nervosa'', commonly known as fibrebark, is a shrub or tree 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 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 northern Australia. (Some Australian state herbaria use the name ''Callistemon nervosus''.) It is a narrow-leaved, tropical paperbark with yellow-green and red-flowering forms. As with some other melaleucas, this species has many uses to

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

Description

''Melaleuca nervosa'' grows to tall, has erect branches and papery-fibrous bark which may be grey, cream, brown or white. There is variation in the leaf size and shape depending on the subspecies but they are generally long, wide, leathery, covered with fine or curly, silky hairs when young and have 3–7 longitudinal veins. The flowers are arranged in 6 to 20 groups of three in long spikes about long and diameter. The

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 are arranged in five bundles around the flower and in this species there are 3–7 stamens per bundle. The flowers are white, creamy-green, cream, yellow-green or occasionally red. Flowers appear from April to September and are followed by fruit which are woody, cup-shaped capsules about long and wide. Melaleuca nervosa habit

Taxonomy and naming

Fibrebark was first formally described in 1848 by

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

and given the name ''Callistemon nervosum''. The description was published in Thomas L. Mitchell's ''Journal of an expedition to the interior of tropical Australia''. (''Callistemon nervosum'' is an orthographic variant of the correct spelling ''Callistemon nervosus''.) The type specimen was collected by Thomas Mitchell "at Mitchell's Camp of 16th July, 1846, which is quite close to Mantua Downs on the Claude and Nogoa Rivers, south of

Springsure Springsure is a town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Emerald, Queensland, Emerald on the Gregory Highway. It is the southern terminus of the Gregory Highwa ...

, north

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_ ...

." He described it as "a magnificent new crimson ''Callistemon'', with its young flowers and leaves wrapped in wool". In 1944,

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 ...

changed the name to ''Melaleuca nervosa'', the change published in '' Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales''. 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 ...

(''nervosa'') is a

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 meaning "sinewy", referring to the distinctive leaf veins of this species. ''Callistemon nervosus'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca nervosa'' 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 is widespread in Queensland north of about

Bundaberg Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The Bun ...

, in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and the northern

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

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 ...

. It occurs in a wide range of habitats including

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

, sandy soils, along watercourses, in damp depressions and red sand dunes.

Conservation

''Melaleuca nervosa'' is classified "not threatened" (in Western Australia) by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

Uses

Horticulture

Fibrebark is readily propagated from seed. The red form is grown at Atherton and is the more useful ornamental. It should tolerate a wide range of soils and conditions.

Traditional uses

The bark of ''M. nervosa'' is used to make coolamons for carrying food and other items and cutting into the trunk provided fresh water. The leaves were used as a decongestant and oils extracted from the leaves had uses similar to those for tea tree oil.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15371868

nervosa ''Nervosa'' is an album by the band Showbread. It was released on May 13, 2008, simultaneously with its companion album ''Anorexia''. Nervosa second in a two-CD collection entitled Anorexia Nervosa, which is an accompaniment to the short story '' ...

Myrtales of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1848