''Melaleuca recurva'', commonly known as Tinaroo 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 higher areas of far northern

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 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 recurvus''). It is a shrub with spikes of red flowers tipped with yellow in most months of the year and which often has leaves with their edges curled under.

Description

''Melaleuca recurva'' is a shrub or small tree growing to high with hard, fibrous bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat and narrow egg-shaped with the end tapering to a point. The leaves have indistinct veins and randomly distributed oil glands. The young leaves and branches have fine, silky hairs pressed against their surfaces. The flowers are bright red tipped with yellow and are arranged in spikes on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering, sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. The spikes are in diameter. The petals are long, fall off as the flower ages and there are 26-36 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs throughout the year but mainly in the cooler months and is followed by fruits that are woody capsules, long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca recurva'' 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 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organ ...

in '' Novon'' when ''Callistemon recurvus'' was moved to the present

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

. ''Callistemon recurvus'' was first formally described in 1990 by Roger David Spencer and Peter Lumley in ''Muelleria'' from a specimen collected on Mount Stewart, east of Herberton. 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 ...

(''recurva'') 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 "recurved", referring to the leaves often being slightly bent backwards. ''Callistemon recurvus'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca recurva'' 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 recurva'' occurs in the higher districts in

from the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau, which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the B ...

south to the Bowen district where it grows in dense

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

and on rocky outcrops near rivers.

Use in horticulture

''Melaleuca recurva'' is often cultivated due to the presence of flowers through most of the year.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5022790 recurva Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1990