Melaleuca viminalis

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Weeping bottlebrush
Melaleuca viminalis.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. viminalis
Binomial name
Melaleuca viminalis
Synonyms [1]
  • Metrosideros viminalisSol. ex Gaertn.
  • Callistemon viminalis(Sol. ex Gaertn.) G.Don

Melaleuca viminalis, commonly known as weeping bottlebrush or creek bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. (Some Australian state herbaria continue to use the name Callistemon viminalis. [2] ) It is a multi-trunked, large shrub or tree with hard bark, often pendulous foliage and large numbers of bright red bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer. It is possibly the most commonly cultivated melaleuca in gardens and its cultivars are often grown in many countries.

Contents

Description

Melaleuca viminalis is a large shrub or small tree growing to 10 m (30 ft) tall with hard, fibrous, furrowed bark, a number of trunks and usually pendulous branches. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are 25–138 mm (1–5 in) long, 3–27 mm (0.1–1 in) wide, more or less flat, very narrow elliptical to narrow egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base and the other end tapering to a sharp point. The leaves have a mid-vein, 9-27 lateral veins and large number of conspicuous oil glands. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Pollen grains of Melaleuca viminalis Pollen grains of Melaleuca viminalis.jpg
Pollen grains of Melaleuca viminalis

The flowers are bright red and are arranged in spikes on and around the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering. The spikes are 35–50 mm (1–2 in) in diameter and 40–100 mm (2–4 in) long with 15 to 50 individual flowers. The petals are 3.4–5.9 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and fall off as the flower ages and the stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower. The bundles are sometimes obscure but each contains 9 to 14 stamens. Flowering occurs from September to December and often sporadically throughout the year. Flowering is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, 3.8–4.8 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) in diameter. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1788 by Joseph Gaertner, who gave it the name Metrosideros viminalis in De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum . [8] [9] In 1984, Norman Brice Byrnes transferred the species to Melaleuca as M. viminalis in the journal Austrobaileya . [1] [10]

In 2009, Lyndley Craven described Melaleuca viminalis subsp. rhodendron in the journal Novon , and the name, and that of the autonym are accepted by Plants of the World Online:

The specific epithet (viminalis) means "having long, slender branches". [3]

The Australian Plant Census regards Metrosideros viminalis, Melaleuca viminalis, Melaleuca viminalis subsp. viminalis and Callistemon viminalis subsp. viminalis as synonyms of Callistemon viminalis. [14]

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca occurs along the eastern part of Queensland from the Cape York Peninsula south to Moree and Grafton in New South Wales. There are also disjunct populations in the far north and south-west of Western Australia. It mostly grows in and along watercourses, mainly in sandstone or granite country. [3] [4] [15]

Ecology

Melaleuca viminalis provides food for nectivores. Its adaptations to survive strong currents during flood events allow it to slow the flow of floodwater and reduce erosion, thereby improving the water quality in streams and rivers. The matted roots of this species also strengthen the soil of riverbanks, further reducing the potential for erosion. [16]

Use in horticulture

A widely grown garden plant and street tree, usually known as Callistemon viminalis, Melaleuca viminalis is a hardy species in most soils when grown in full sun. It is useful as a screening plant and is suitable for planting as a street tree. [17] It needs regular watering but can survive drought as a mature plant although it is not frost hardy and will succumb to salt spray. [6] [7]

Many cultivars of this species have been developed as cultivars of Callistemon. [7] They include:

Related Research Articles

<i>Callistemon</i> Genus of flowering plants

Callistemon is a genus of shrubs in the family Myrtaceae, first described as a genus in 1814. The entire genus is endemic to Australia but widely cultivated in many other regions and naturalised in scattered locations. Their status as a separate taxon is in doubt, some authorities accepting that the difference between callistemons and melaleucas is not sufficient for them to be grouped in a separate genus.

<i>Melaleuca armillaris</i> Species of plant

Melaleuca armillaris, commonly known as bracelet honey myrtle, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is native to South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania in south-eastern Australia. It is a hardy, commonly grown species, often used as a fast-growing screen plant, but it also has the potential to become a weed. It has become naturalised in Western Australia and parts of Victoria. In its natural state, it grows on coastal cliffs and along estuaries.

<i>Melaleuca linearifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca linearifolia, commonly known as netted bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New South Wales in Australia.. It is a shrub with narrow, pointed leaves and red flower spikes in spring or summer.

<i>Melaleuca pachyphylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca pachyphylla, commonly known as wallum bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to near-coastal regions of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.. It is a medium-sized shrub with a straggling habit and red, or sometimes greenish, bottlebrush flowers in summer.

<i>Melaleuca phoenicea</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca phoenicea, commonly known as scarlet bottlebrush or lesser bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the plant as tubada. It is a shrub with thick, blue-green leaves and spikes of scarlet bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer.

<i>Melaleuca orophila</i> Species of plant

Melaleuca orophila, commonly known as needle bottlebrush or Flinders Ranges bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the eastern part of South Australia.. It is a medium-sized shrub with sharp-pointed, needle-like leaves and bright red bottlebrush flower spikes.

<i>Melaleuca recurva</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca recurva, commonly known as Tinaroo bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to higher areas of far northern Queensland in Australia.. 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.

<i>Melaleuca faucicola</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca faucicola commonly known as desert bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the Northern Territory in Australia. It is a shrub or small tree growing only in protected gorges in the ranges of Central Australia such as the Petermann Ranges and has red, cream or white spikes of flowers.

<i>Melaleuca nodosa</i> Species of plant

Melaleuca nodosa, commonly known as the prickly-leaved paperbark, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with narrow, sometimes needle-like leaves and profuse heads of yellow flowers as early as April or as late as January.

<i>Melaleuca pallida</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca pallida, commonly known as lemon bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an upright shrub with thin, spreading branches, silvery new growth and pale yellow, sometimes pinkish bottlebrush flowers.

<i>Melaleuca flammea</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca flammea, commonly known as tapering-leaved bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. It is a shrub with broad, lance-shaped leaves which have wavy edges and taper gradually to a fine point. In spring it has typical bottlebrush flowers whose fiery colour gives the species its name.

<i>Melaleuca glauca</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca glauca, commonly known as Albany bottlebrush is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall shrub with glaucous leaves and spikes of red flowers in spring.

<i>Melaleuca montana</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca montana, commonly known as mountain bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the Border Ranges area of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.. It is a shrub or small tree distinguished from most other red bottlebrushes by its hairy petals.

Melaleuca montis-zamia is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the Springsure district in Queensland, Australia. It is a shrub with red bottlebrush flowers.

<i>Melaleuca pearsonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca pearsonii, commonly known as Blackdown bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Queensland in Australia. It is a small, spreading but compact shrub with hard bark, soft foliage and profuse spikes of bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer.

Melaleuca quercina, commonly known as Oakey bottlebrush is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area of Queensland in Australia. It is small tree with dark, corky bark and spikes of yellow, cream or pink bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer.

<i>Melaleuca rugulosa</i> Species of plant

Melaleuca rugulosa, commonly known as scarlet bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to South Australia and Victoria in Australia. It is a shrub with an open straggly habit, stiff, sharply pointed leaves and bright red bottlebrush flowers tipped with yellow in summer.

<i>Melaleuca salicina</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca salicina, commonly known as willow bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. Some Australian state herbaria continue to use the name Callistemon salignus, a name that is accepted by the Australian Plant Census. It is a shrub or small tree with soft foliage, pink new growth, white papery bark and spikes of usually white or creamy bottlebrush flowers in spring.

<i>Melaleuca virens</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca virens, commonly known as lime bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Tasmania in Australia. It is one of only two melaleucas endemic to Tasmania, the other being Melaleuca pustulata although another six also occur there. A small to medium shrub growing mostly in subalpine areas, it has hard, leathery, sharply pointed leaves and spikes of yellow or greenish flowers in early summer,

<i>Melaleuca wimmerensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca wimmerensis, commonly known as the Wimmera bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the state of Victoria in Australia.. It is a recently (2008) discovered shrub, often with many stems arising from a lignotuber and is similar to Melaleuca paludicola but has pink or mauve flowers tipped with yellow anthers over a short period between October and early December.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Melaleuca viminalis". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  2. ↑ Udovicic, Frank; Spencer, Roger (2012). "New combinations in Callistemon (Myrtaceae)" (PDF). Muelleria. 30 (1): 23–25. doi:10.5962/p.292240. S2CID   251007557 . Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brophy, Joseph J.; Craven, Lyndley A.; Doran, John C. (2013). Melaleucas : their botany, essential oils and uses. Canberra: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. pp. 378–379. ISBN   9781922137517.
  4. 1 2 3 Spencer, Roger; Lumley, Peter. "Callistemon viminalis". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: Plantnet. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Melaleuca viminalis". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government . Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "Callistemon viminalis". Australian Native Plants Society Australia. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Jackson, Ron. "Callistemon viminalis". Australian National Botanic Garden. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Metrosideros viminalis". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Gaertner, Joseph (1788). De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum. Stuttgart. p. 171. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  10. ↑ Byrnes, Norman B. (1984). "A Revision of Melaleuca L. (Myrtaceae) in Northern and Eastern Australia, 1". Austrobaileya. 2 (1): 75. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "Melaleuca viminalis subsp. rhododendron". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  12. 1 2 Craven, Lyn A. (2009). "Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) from Australia". Novon. 19: 449. doi:10.3417/2007008. S2CID   85017631 . Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Melaleuca viminalis subsp. viminalis". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  14. ↑ "Callistemon viminalis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  15. ↑ "Melaleuca viminalis". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  16. ↑ "Weeping bottlebrush" (PDF). Ipswich City Council. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  17. ↑ Wrigley, John W.; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 194. ISBN   0002165759.
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