''Melaleuca subulata'' 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 south eastern

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 subulatus''). It is a small, spreading shrub with hard bark, dense foliage, cylindrical leaves and spikes of dark crimson flowers in summer.

Description

''Melaleuca subulata'' is a shrub growing to high with hard, fibrous bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, cylindrical or shaped like a bradawl. The flowers are a deep crimson colour and are arranged in spikes at the end of, or around the branches which continue to grow after flowering. The spikes are in diameter and long with 20 to 80 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages and there are 16-27 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs from November to May and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, long and in diameter. Melaleuca subulata habit

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca subulata'' 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 subulatus'' 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 ...

. ''Callistemon subulatus'' was first formally described by botanist

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 1925 in '' Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales Series''. 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 ...

(''subulata'') refers to the

subulate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

shape of the leaves. ''Callistemon subulatus'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca subulata'' 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 and between the Heathcote and Mittagong districts in

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 East Gippsland in Victoria. It grows in creek beds and on the banks of streams in forests.

Use in horticulture

''Melaleuca subulata'' is commonly cultivated because of it abundant, attractive flowers. It is hardy but benefits from the application of low-phosphorus fertiliser.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5022792 subulata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Plants described in 1925 Taxa named by Edwin Cheel