Assignment/exercise
USC Plant Profile - Myrtaceae, Callistemon viminalis 'Little John'
University of the Sunshine Coast
2021
Appears in UniSC Plant Profiles
Abstract
The Callistemon ‘Little John’ is a cultivated shrub from the tree Callistemon viminalis in the Myrtaceae family. It is also common that the genus Callistemon is interchanged with Melaleuca (Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) 2016). Some common names for this species include weeping bottlebrush, red bottlebrush and drooping bottlebrush (ANBG 2016). The viminalis prefers well drained soils with plenty of sun light but is also adaptable and can grow in waterlogged conditions (ANBG 2016). The ‘Little John’ is a dwarf cultivar, however, the original species viminalis can be found mainly on water courses from Cape York, Queensland through to New South Wales (Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) n.d.). The viminalis is a tree up to 10 m tall (ALA n.d.), although the cultivar version is about 1 m tall and about 1 m wide (AustraFlora n.d.). The flower is like a bottlebrush that is red because of the red filament to give the colour and the arrangement of the filament to give the brush appearance (ANBG 2016). Pollen form on the tip of these filaments to give yellow tips (ANBG 2016). These flowers usually appear in spring to summer (Leiper et al. 2017).
The fruit of this plant is found on the stems and is small and woody (ANBG 2016). These fruits contain seeds which are often not released for years (ANBG 2016). The viminalis was first named by Joseph Gaertner, a German botanist, within the book De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum, released in 1788 (ALA n.d.). The plant is often used in landscaping, especially the cultivar version, and also for erosion control (ANBG 2016). It can help slow water flow, increase bank stability, and slow sediment transport (ALA n.d.). It also attracts nectivores because of the pollen it produces (ALA n.d.).
Details
- Title
- USC Plant Profile - Myrtaceae, Callistemon viminalis 'Little John'
- Authors
- Patrick Adams (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Location
- Latitude: -26.717 Longitude: 153.064; USC Sippy Downs Campus, behind E block.
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date collected
- 26-Mar-2021
- Date published
- 2021
- Copyright note
- © The Author. Reproduced with permission.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99706795502621
- Output Type
- Assignment/exercise; Plant Profile Sheet
- Teaching and Learning
- ENS221; Plant Diversity and Ecology
Metrics
113 File views/ downloads
267 Record Views