Bottlebrush

Today we took a trip to Brownhill Creek to look for bottlebrush and birds for blip. Callistemon species are commonly referred to as bottlebrushes because of their cylindrical, brush like flowers resembling a traditional bottle brush. They are found in the more temperate regions of Australia, mostly along the east coast and south-west, and typically favour moist conditions.

They do very well in Adelaide where they are commonly grown as street trees, because they don't grow tall enough to interfere with power lines. At this time of year they make a wonderful show where they are lining many of our streets.

Callistemon is a genus of 34 species of shrubs in the family Myrtaceae, all of which are endemic to Australia. Flowering is normally in spring and early summer (October–December), but conditions may cause flowering at other times of the year. The obvious parts of the flower masses are stamens, with the pollen at the tip of the filament; the petals are inconspicuous.

Flower heads vary in colour with species; most are red, but some are yellow, green, orange or white. Each flower head produces a profusion of triple-celled seed capsules around a stem which remain on the plant with the seeds enclosed until stimulated to open when the plant dies or fire causes the release of the seeds. The red variety is my favourite, being the most striking.

The flowers are nectar producing, and most of the honeyeaters use them as a food source. They are relatively slow growing though in time the larger species can grow up to 15 m (49 to 50 ft).

You really need to see the stamens in LARGE.