Callistemon rugulosus
| Scarlet bottlebrush | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Melaleuca |
| Species: | M. rugulosa |
| Binomial name | |
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Melaleuca rugulosa (Schltdl. ex Link) Craven |
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| Synonyms | |
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. (Some Australian state herbaria continue to use the name Callistemon rugulosus.Callistemon coccineus and Callistemon macropunctatus are older names for Callistemon rugulosus.) It is a shrub with an open straggly habit, stiff, sharply pointed leaves and bright red bottlebrush flowers tipped with yellow in summer.
Melaleuca rugulosa is a shrub growing to 5 m (20 ft) high with an open, straggling habit and peeling grey bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are 21–86 mm (0.8–3 in) long, 2.5–8.5 mm (0.1–0.3 in) wide, flat, thick, rigid, narrow elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end near the base and have a sharp point. There is a mid-vein, marginal veins and 7-13 indistinct lateral veins. The young leaves and branches are often covered with dense, silky hairs.
The flowers are a shade of red to purple, tipped with yellow and are arranged in spikes around the branches which continue to grow after flowering. The spikes are 40–65 mm (2–3 in) in diameter and 50–80 mm (2–3 in) long with 18 to 60 individual flowers. The petals are 4.4–6.8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and fall off as the flower ages and there are 34-63 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs from November to December, sometimes in other months and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, 4.5–6.5 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long.
Melaleuca rugulosa was first named in 2006 by Lyndley Craven in Novon when Callistemon rugulosus was transferred to the present genus. It was first formally described in 1822 as Metrosideros rugulosa by Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link in Enumeratio Plantarum Horti Regii Berolinensis Altera. The specific epithet (rugulosa) is from the Latin word meaning “crease” or "wrinkle" but the reason for this naming is unclear.
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Wikipedia