Melaleuca citrina
Common names
common red bottle brush, crimson bottle brush, lemon bottlebrush, honey myrtle
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Erect much-branched shrub to 5 m or more. Flowers in dense red/crimson ‘bottlebrush’ heads. Crushed leaves lemon scented (hence the common name ‘lemon bottlebrush’)
Flower colours
Red/Pink
Similar taxa
Melaleuca rigida has shorter, narrower more coriaceous leaves; its persistent capsules are more woody and dense than in M. citrina.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Threats
This taxon may be prone to Myrtle Rust (Austropuccinia psidii) is an invasive fungus which threatens myrtle species - learn more myrtlerust.org.nz
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Callistemon citrinus
Ecology
Fruiting
Hard persistent capsules
Year naturalised
1975
Origin
Australia
Reason for introduction
Ornamental. Very widely grown in NZ but few confirmed records of it self-establishing
Propagation technique
Seed
Other information
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
MELCIT