Alice River bottlebrush facts for kids

The Alice River bottlebrush (scientific name: Melaleuca clarksonii) is a cool plant from the myrtle family. This family is called Myrtaceae. This tree grows only in the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. This means it is endemic to that area.

It looks a lot like other bottlebrush trees, like Melaleuca cajuputi and Melaleuca leucadendra. It has wide leaves and creamy-white flowers that grow in spikes. But you can tell it apart because its bark is usually hard and stringy.

What it Looks Like

The Alice River bottlebrush is a tree that can grow up to 10 metres (about 33 feet) tall. It usually has bark that feels hard and stringy, like fibres. Sometimes, its bark can be papery too.

Its leaves grow one after another along the stem. They are usually 30 to 110 millimetres (1.2 to 4.3 inches) long. They are also 7 to 30 millimetres (0.3 to 1.2 inches) wide. The leaves are shaped like an oval or an ellipse. Each leaf has a clear stalk, called a petiole, which is 3 to 6 millimetres (0.1 to 0.2 inches) long. You can also see 5 to 9 lines, or veins, running side-by-side on the leaves.

The flowers are white or a greenish-cream colour. They grow in spikes at the ends of the branches. These branches keep growing even after the flowers bloom. Each flower spike is about 18 millimetres (0.7 inches) across. It has 9 to 15 groups of flowers, with 3 flowers in each group.

The small green parts at the base of the flower, called sepals, are 0.7 to 1.2 millimetres (0.03 to 0.05 inches) long. The colourful parts, called petals, are 1.5 to 2.5 millimetres (0.06 to 0.1 inches) long. These petals fall off as the flower gets older. Inside the flower, there are five groups of stamens (the parts that make pollen). Each group has 6 to 9 stamens.

You can usually see these flowers in May. After the flowers, the tree grows woody fruits. These fruits are called capsules. They are small, only 2 to 3 millimetres (0.08 to 0.1 inches) long. They grow in loose groups along the stems.

How it Got its Name

The Alice River bottlebrush was officially described in 1997. A scientist named Bryan Barlow wrote about it in a science journal called Novon. He studied a plant sample found in the Mitchell-Alice Rivers National Park.

The second part of its scientific name, clarksonii, is a special honour. It was named after John Richard Clarkson. He is a botanist (a plant scientist) from north Queensland. He helped collect the first plant samples that were used to describe this new species. These first samples are called "type specimens."

Where it Lives

You can find the Alice River bottlebrush in the Cape York Peninsula area. This includes places like the Mitchell-Alice Rivers National Park in the west. It also grows near the Jack Lakes in the south-east and the Wenlock River area.

This tree likes to grow in forests and woodlands. Sometimes, you can find many of these trees growing together. They often live around swamps and flat, muddy areas called clay pans. These areas get flooded during the wet season.