''Melaleuca formosa'', commonly known as Kingaroy bottlebrush or cliff bottlebrush is a plant in the myrtle
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
,
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 ...
and is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
to a small area in
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
and peripherally in
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia. (Some Australian state
herbaria
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...
continue to use the name ''Callistemon formosus'').
It is a shrub with weeping branches and spikes of lemon-coloured flowers in spring.
Description
''Melaleuca formosa'' is a spreading shrub growing to tall. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat, narrow egg-shaped or narrow elliptical with a mid-vein and have distinct oil glands and 11 to 24 branching veins.
The flowers are whitish through cream to lime-green and arranged in spikes on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering as well as on the sides of the branches. The spikes are up to in diameter with 20 to 40 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages. There are 57 to 63
stamen
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...
s in each flower, tipped with yellow. Flowering occurs throughout the year but mainly in spring and is followed by fruit that are woody
capsules, long.
Taxonomy and naming
This species was first formally described in 1958 as ''Callistemon formosus'' by S.T.Blake in '' Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland'' based on a specimen found "near Kingaroy
Kingaroy () is a rural town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the Road Junction, junction of the D'Aguilar Highway, D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highway, Buny ...
(near Edenvale Rwy. Stn.), low plateau, remnant of mixed low forest on red loam." The specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
(''formosa'') is a Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word meaning “beautiful” or "handsome", referring to the appearance of the plant.
In 2006 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 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organ ...
sank ''Callistemon'' into ''Melaleuca'' giving the new combination ''Melaleuca formosa'' for this species. However, this change is controversial and is not accepted by the Australian Plant Census or the National Herbarium of New South Wales. ''Callistemon formosus'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca formosa'' by the Queensland Herbarium
The Queensland Herbarium (Index Herbariorum code: BRI) is situated at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of Queensland's Department of Environment and Science. It is responsible for disc ...
and 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 1,10 ...
.
Distribution and habitat
This melaleuca occurs in near coastal districts in south eastern Queensland, where it grows in vine forest or as an understorey plant beneath eucalypts in loam
Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...
or sandy soil over trachyte
Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrus ...
.
Conservation status
''Melaleuca formosa'' is classified as "near threatened" under the Government of Queensland Nature Conservation Act (1992).
Use in horticulture
''Melaleuca formosa'' is grown as a street tree in Kingaroy. It is recommended as a shrub to be grown under powerlines and has been found to be relatively tolerant to the fungal disease, myrtle rust ('' Uredo rangelii'').
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q20721640
formosa
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...
Flora of Queensland
Plants described in 1958