Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Megalong Valley bottlebrush

(Callistemon megalongensis)

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en

Description

Melaleuca megalongensis (Synonym; Callistemon megalongensis), commonly known as Megalong Valley bottlebrush,is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. (Some Australian state herbaria use the name Callistemon megalongensis). It is a shrub similar to Melaleuca citrina (Callistemon citrinus) which occurs in the same area and is difficult to distinguish from it, except when in flower. Melaleuca megalongensis is a shrub growing to 5 m (20 ft) tall with soft, flaking or peeling bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are 35–55 mm (1–2 in) long, 3.5–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide, flat, narrow elliptic to narrow egg-shaped with the narrow end towards the base. There is a mid-vein and 15 to 24 lateral veins. The leaves usually have some thickening at the mid-vein and margins. The flowers are arranged in spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and are 30–40 mm (1–2 in) in diameter with 25 to 60 individual flowers. The petals are 3.0–3.7 mm (0.12–0.15 in) long and fall off as the flower ages and there are 45-50 stamens in each flower. The filaments of the stamens are pink with a dark red anther. Flowering occurs in November and December and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, 6 mm (0.2 in) long.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Myrtales
Family:Myrtaceae
Genus:Callistemon
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