''Melaleuca linearifolia'', commonly known as netted bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family,

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

and is endemic to New South Wales in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. (Some Australian state herbaria continue to use the name ''Callistemon linearifolius''). It is a shrub with narrow, pointed leaves and red flower spikes in spring or summer.

Description

''Melaleuca linearifolia'' is a shrub or small tree growing to tall with grey, hard, flaking bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat but thickened at the edges, linear to lance-shaped, pointed at the tip, with a mid-vein and 17 to 35 branching veins. The flowers are red to dark crimson and arranged in spikes on the ends of branches which continue to grow after flowering and also on the sides of the branches. The spikes are in diameter and long with 30 to 90 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages and there are 21–23 stamens in each flower. Flowering occurs from spring to summer and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, long. Melaleuca linearifolia habit

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca linearifolia'' was first formally described in 2006 by Lyndley Craven in ''

Novon The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million s ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''linearifolia'') is from the Latin words ''linearis'' meaning "linear" and ''folium'' meaning "a leaf" in reference to the shape of the leaves of this species.

Distribution and habitat

''Melaleuca linearifolia'' occurs on the coast of New South Wales from

Nelson Bay Nelson Bay may refer to: *Nelson Bay, New South Wales *Nelson Bay, Tasmania * Nelson Bay, Alaska *Nelson Bay Cave Nelson Bay Cave also known as Wagenaar's Cave is a Stone Age archaeological site located in the Robberg Nature Reserve on the Ro ...

to the

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river travels for approximately in a north and then easterly ...

, where it grows in dry sclerophyll forest near sandstone.

Conservation status

''Melaleuca linearifolia'' has been classified as "vulnerable" by the New South Wales Government.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21321552, from2=Q5022776 linearifolia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 2006 Taxa named by Lyndley Craven