Melaleuca brachyandra
Melaleuca brachyandra, commonly known as prickly bottlebrush or scarlet bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New [South Wales], Victoria and South Australia in Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with narrow leaves and showy red and green flowers making it an ideal ornamental plant in temperate areas.
Description
Melaleuca brachyandra is a shrub growing to tall with hard bark and a rigid habit. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, linear in shape, kidney-shaped in cross section and with the end tapering to a sharp point.The flowers are arranged in spikes on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering. The spikes are up to in diameter with 7 to 36 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages. There are 50 to 84 stamens in each flower, with their "stalks" rich crimson and "tips" green. Flowering occurs from September to January and is followed by fruits that are woody capsules, long.
Taxonomy and naming
Melaleuca brachyandra was first formally described in 2006 by Lyndley Craven in Novon. It had previously been known as Callistemon brachyandrus since John Lindley described it in 1849 in Journal of the Horticultural Society of London. The specific epithet is derived from the ancient Greek words brachys, meaning "short" and anēr, genitive andros, meaning "male", referring to the length of the stamens being shorter than the styles.Callistemon brachyandrus is regarded as a synonym of Melaleuca brachyandra by Plants of the World Online.