''Melaleuca nervosa'', commonly known as fibrebark, is a shrub or tree 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 ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to northern Australia. (Some Australian state

herbaria A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

use the name ''Callistemon nervosus''.) It is a narrow-leaved, tropical paperbark with yellow-green and red-flowering forms. As with some other melaleucas, this species has many uses to

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

Description

''Melaleuca nervosa'' grows to tall, has erect branches and papery-fibrous bark which may be grey, cream, brown or white. There is variation in the leaf size and shape depending on the subspecies but they are generally long, wide, leathery, covered with fine or curly, silky hairs when young and have 3–7 longitudinal veins. The flowers are arranged in 6 to 20 groups of three in long spikes about long and diameter. The

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s are arranged in five bundles around the flower and in this species there are 3–7 stamens per bundle. The flowers are white, creamy-green, cream, yellow-green or occasionally red. Flowers appear from April to September and are followed by fruit which are woody, cup-shaped capsules about long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

Fibrebark was first formally described in 1848 by

John Lindley John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist. Early years Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...

and given the name ''Callistemon nervosum''. The description was published in Thomas L. Mitchell's ''Journal of an expedition to the interior of tropical Australia''. (''Callistemon nervosum'' is an

orthographic variant In biology, within the science of scientific nomenclature, i.e. the naming of organisms, an orthographical variant (abbreviated orth. var.) in botany or an orthographic error in zoology, is a spelling mistake, typing mistake or writing mistake wit ...

of the correct spelling ''Callistemon nervosus''.) The type specimen was collected by Thomas Mitchell "at Mitchell's Camp of 16th July, 1846, which is quite close to Mantua Downs on the Claude and

Nogoa River The Nogoa River is a river in Central Queensland, Australia. Course and features The river rises on the Carnarvon Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, in the Carnarvon National Park and flows in a generally north easterly direction towards ...

s, south of

Springsure Springsure is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Springsure had a population of 950 people. Geography Springsure is situated by road ...

, north

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

." He described it as "a magnificent new crimson ''Callistemon'', with its young flowers and leaves wrapped in wool". In 1944,

Edwin Cheel Edwin Cheel (14 February 1872 – 19 September 1951) was an Australian botanist and collector. Before being appointed as a staff member of Centennial Park in 1897 he was a gardener in New South Wales and Queensland. Later he transferred to the R ...

changed the name to ''Melaleuca nervosa'', the change published in '' Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''nervosa'') is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word meaning "sinewy", referring to the distinctive leaf veins of this species. ''Callistemon nervosus'' is regarded as a synonym of ''Melaleuca nervosa'' by the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

Distribution and habitat

This melaleuca is widespread in Queensland north of about

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

, in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and the northern

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It occurs in a wide range of habitats including

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

, sandy soils, along watercourses, in damp depressions and red sand dunes.

Conservation

''Melaleuca nervosa'' is classified "not threatened" (in Western Australia) by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...

Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Uses

Horticulture

Fibrebark is readily propagated from seed. The red form is grown at Atherton and is the more useful ornamental. It should tolerate a wide range of soils and conditions.

Traditional uses

The bark of ''M. nervosa'' is used to make coolamons for carrying food and other items and cutting into the trunk provided fresh water. The leaves were used as a decongestant and oils extracted from the leaves had uses similar to those for

tea tree oil Tea tree oil, also known as melaleuca oil, is an essential oil with a fresh, camphoraceous odour and a colour that ranges from pale yellow to nearly colourless and clear. It is derived from the leaves of the tea tree, '' Melaleuca alternif ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15371868 nervosa Myrtales of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1848