Plants of
South Australia
Callistemon teretifolius
Myrtaceae
Flinders Ranges Red Bottlebrush,
Needle Bottlebrush
Display all 6 images
Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
Enlarge Map
Copy Map
Copy Map
Display IBRA region text

Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

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.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
30,000 (8.72 g)
30,000 (8.72 g)
218-Dec-2005KHB15
Murray
7-Aug-2006100%-18°C
BGA110,000 (27.11 g)1225-Sep-2017JJS4
Murray
30-Jun-2018100%-18°C, -80°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.