''Melaleuca quercina'', commonly known as Oakey 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 of

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. (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 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 ...

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

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

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

'' in the

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

family

Fagaceae The Fagaceae (; ) are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with around 1,000 or more species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species ...

and hence the location Oakey Creek near

Oakey Oakey is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. The Oakey Army Aviation Centre, Museum of Army Aviation is located at Oakey Airport. In the , the locality of Oakey had a pop ...

in Queensland. ''Callistemon quercinus'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca quercina'' 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

''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