Prickly Bottlebrush
Callistemon brachyandrus
Family Myrtaceae
About
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.
How to spot it
Melaleuca brachyandra is a shrub growing to 1.5–8 m (5–30 ft) tall with hard bark and a rigid habit. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are 18–61 mm (0.7–2 in) long, 0.5–1.7 mm (0.02–0.07 in) 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 35 mm (1 in) in diameter with 7 to 36 individual flowers. The petals are 2.8–4.9 mm (0
Documented on these trails
Found in
- You Yangs Regional Park — Melbourne, the Dandenongs & Central Victoria hikes