Melaleuca comboynensis

Melaleuca comboynensis is a small shrub or tree growing to tall with hard bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are long, wide, flat, narrow egg-shaped with the narrower end near the base and with the end tapering to a point. The flowers are arranged in spikes usually near the end of the branches. The spikes are up to long and wide with 15 to 50 individual flowers. The petals are long and fall off as the flower ages. There are 31 to 41 stamens in each flower, with their "stalks" (the filaments) red to crimson and "tips" (the anthers) a dark purple. Flowering occurs from March to December and is followed by fruit that are woody capsules, long. ==Taxonomy and naming==

Melaleuca comboynensis was first named in 2006 by Lyndley Craven in Novon. It was first formally described in 1943 as Callistemon comboynensis by Edwin Cheel in Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. His specimen was collected in the "Comboyne Ranges in crevices of rocks". The specific epithet (comboynensis) refers to the location where the type specimen was found. Callistemon comboynensis is regarded as a synonym of Melaleuca comboynensis by Plants of the World Online. ==Distribution and habitat==

This melaleuca occurs in the high country in and between the Border Ranges in southern Queensland and the Gibraltar Range in northern New South Wales. It also occurs in the lower Murray River districts of north-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. It mostly grows on rocky hilltops and crevices above . ==Use in horticulture==

Melaleuca comboynensis is well known in cultivation as an attractive and hardy shrub for temperate areas. Image:Callistemon comboynensis HRM1.jpg|In the Royal Botanic Garden in Madrid arboretum Image:Callistemon comboynensis.jpg|In Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid Image:Melaleuca comboynensis flowers.jpg|In the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan Image:Melaleuca comboynensis habit.jpg|On Waratah Trig in the Gibraltar Range National Park ==References==