Botanical art
Prior names
Melaleuca orophila
Common names
Flinders Ranges Red Bottlebrush
Needle Bottlebrush
Etymology
Callistemon from the Greek 'kallos' meaning beauty and 'stemon' meaning a stamen, alluding to the beautiful flowers of the genus. Teretifolius from the Latin 'teres' meaning rounded and 'folium' meaning a leaf, referring to the leaves having a cylindrical cross-section.
Distribution and status
Endemic to South Australia and found in the Flinders Ranges and the Mount Lofty Ranges, growing on rocky hillsides, ridges and spurs in rough scrub. Native. Common in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Shrub to 1.5 m tall with fissured bark and rigid branches. Leaves rigid, terete, sharply pointed to 110 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, sometimes grooved below; oil glands few and scattered. Inflorescence a cylindrical spike to 70 mm long and 50 mm wide with flowers bearing crimson stamens and purple anthers Flowering between October and December. Fruits are grey-brown, smooth, woody capsules to 7 mm long and 8 mm wide, valves constricted. Capsules remain on the branches. Seeds are tiny brown rectangular seed to 1.5 mm long and 0.5 mm wide. Seed embryo type is folded.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between January and December. Collect capsules that are large and hard with closed valves, preferably collect from older, woody capsules. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for at least two weeks or until all the valves are open. Then place all the capsules into a bucket with a lid if possible and shake hard to dislodge the seeds from the capsules. Use a sieve to separate the seeds from the capsules. The fine material will contain the seeds and other flowering material. It is very difficult to separate the seeds from this other material as the size, shape and weight are very similar. However the seeds will be a darker brown and more fleshy looking. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BGA MSB | 30,000 (8.72 g) 30,000 (8.72 g) | 2 | 18-Dec-2005 | KHB15 Murray | 7-Aug-2006 | 100% | -18°C |
BGA | 110,000 (27.11 g) | 12 | 25-Sep-2017 | JJS4 Murray | 30-Jun-2018 | 100% | -18°C, -80°C |