Species
+

Callistemon viminalis (Sol. ex Gaertn.) G.Don

Weeping Bottlebrush, creek bottlebrush, drooping bottlebrush, red bottlebrush

Climate known 24 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Melaleuca viminalis, also referred to as Callistemon viminalis in Australia and commonly known as weeping bottlebrush, creek bottlebrush or drooping bottlebrush, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia but naturalised in other states and introduced to some other countries. It is a multi-trunked, large shrub or tree with hard bark, often pendulous foliage and large numbers of bright red bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer. It is one of the most commonly cultivated of the bottlebrushes, and its cultivars are often grown in many countries.

Text from Wikipedia, “Melaleuca viminalis”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Callistemon

Callistemon is a genus of shrubs in the family Myrtaceae, first described as a genus in 1814. The entire genus is endemic to Australia but widely cultivated in many other regions and naturalised in scattered locations. Their status as a separate taxon is in doubt, some authorities accepting that the difference between callistemons and melaleucas is not sufficient for them to be grouped in a separate genus.

Text from Wikipedia, “Callistemon”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Myrtaceae
Described by
(Sol. ex Gaertn.) G.Don
Native to
New South Wales, Queensland
Wild records
129 in range· 75 open

At a glance

Warmest month
28°C
Jan, mean day; nights 20 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
994mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Feb 139 mm (CHELSA)
Light
16–42DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to November in the northern hemisphere (November to May at the habitat, southern). Habitat rain 994 mm a year, wettest February at 139 mm, driest August at 47 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 42 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 4.5 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to November in the northern hemisphere (November to May at the habitat, southern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (707 mm of 994 mm) falls in November to May, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 20.4 °C against a yearly mean of 18.1 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: May to November.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 994 mm a year, wettest February at 139 mm, driest August at 47 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

994 mm a year at the habitat, 707 mm of it November to May. Wettest month February at 139 mm, driest August at 47 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 790 mm to 1380 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 42 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 42 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 43).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 4.5 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 4.5 °C, the absolute minimum 1.2 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 38.2 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 9.1 °C in July (across the envelope cells 5.8 °C to 12.0 °C), warmest day 27.5 °C in January (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 4.5 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 62% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 16 °C in Jul to 28 °C in Jan; mean night from 9 °C in Jul to 20 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 994 mm of rain a year, most in Feb. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 106 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 1.2 °C and the 99th-percentile day 38.2 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°20°30°40°38.2° 99th-percentile day (undated)1.2° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 16–42RH 55–62 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 106 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 24–3027 / 24–2925 / 23–2822 / 21–2619 / 18–2317 / 16–2116 / 15–2118 / 16–2221 / 18–2523 / 20–2725 / 21–2827 / 23–30
Night °C20 / 18–2220 / 18–2219 / 16–2016 / 13–1813 / 10–1610 / 7–139 / 6–1210 / 7–1312 / 9–1615 / 12–1816 / 14–2018 / 16–21
Rain mm96 / 73–194139 / 107–227102 / 70–14995 / 64–13781 / 52–12767 / 40–11251 / 29–8047 / 30–7450 / 30–6772 / 53–9097 / 78–12097 / 75–157
DLI41 / 39–4236 / 35–3731 / 30–3525 / 24–3019 / 18–2616 / 16–2418 / 18–2524 / 24–3032 / 31–3838 / 37–4240 / 39–4242 / 41–43
RH %61 / 58–6362 / 59–6461 / 58–6360 / 58–6259 / 58–6158 / 57–6157 / 55–5955 / 54–5955 / 54–5957 / 55–6059 / 56–6160 / 57–63

Each figure is the median across the 106 grid cells holding the 124 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2341:6648 (-27.075, 152.425). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 1.2 °C, 1st-percentile night 4.5 °C, 99th-percentile day 38.2 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 106 distinct grid cells holding the 124 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2341:6648 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -27.00_152.500, lapse-corrected -165 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 89 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeNew South Wales, Queensland· introduced: Baleares, Canary Is., Madeira, Kenya, Tanzania, India, Myanmar, California, Florida, El Salvador, Bahamas
Kew's description“shrub” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-33.756, 151.068 · in the densest population, 71 records (55% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 129 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 75 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1 km away. 382 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 5 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 129 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Callistemon viminalisCallistemon viminalisCallistemon viminalisCallistemon viminalisCallistemon viminalisCallistemon viminalisCallistemon viminalisCallistemon viminalis

Photographs: Dave Richardson, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (4); Karen McCabe, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIF (4).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Callistemon viminalis, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Inhibition of Quorum Sensing-Controlled Virulence Factor Production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by South Florida Plant Extracts
Allison Adonizio, Kok‐Fai Kong, Kalai Mathee (2007) · Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Biosynthesized CuO nano-platelets: Physical properties & enhanced thermal conductivity nanofluidics
B.T. Sone, Abdoulaye Diallo, Xolile Fuku, A. Gurib-Fakim (2017) · Arabian Journal of Chemistry
Single-phase α-Cr 2 O 3 nanoparticles’ green synthesis using Callistemon viminalis ’ red flower extract
B.T. Sone, E. Manikandan, A. Gurib-Fakim, M. Maaza (2016) · Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews
Sm2O3 nanoparticles green synthesis via Callistemon viminalis' extract
B.T. Sone, E. Manikandan, A. Gurib-Fakim, M. Maaza (2015) · Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Physical & Electrochemical Properties of Green Synthesized Bunsenite NiO Nanoparticles via Extracts
B.T. Sone, Xolile Fuku, M. Maaza (2016) · International Journal of Electrochemical Science
Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oils of Callistemon citrinus and Callistemon viminalis from South Africa
Opeoluwa O. Oyedeji, Oladipupo A. Lawal, Francis O. Shode, Adebola O. Oyedeji (2009) · Molecules
Evaluation of extracts and essential oil from Callistemon viminalis leaves: Antibacterial and antioxidant activities, total phenolic and flavonoid contents
Mohamed Z. M. Salem, Hayssam M. Ali, Nader El-Shanhorey, Ahmed Abdel‐Megeed (2013) · Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine
Chemical composition and antibacterial activities from the essential oils of myrtaceae species planted in Brazil
Cleber José da Silva, Luiz C. A. Barbosa, Antônio J. Demuner, Ricardo Marques Montanari (2010) · Química Nova
Floral extracts-mediated green synthesis of NiO nanoparticles and their diverse pharmacological evaluations
Ayesha Sani, Dilawar Hassan, Ali Talha Khalil, Affifa Mughal (2020) · Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics
Physiochemical properties and novel biological applications of Callistemon viminalis ‐mediated α‐Cr2O3 nanoparticles
Dilawar Hassan, Ali Talha Khalil, Amber R. Solangi, Ahmed El‐Mallul (2019) · Applied Organometallic Chemistry
A green approach for the synthesis of gold nanotriangles using aqueous leaf extract of Callistemon viminalis
Pradeep Kumar, Prashant Singh, Kamlesh Kumari, Subho Mozumdar (2010) · Materials Letters

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Callistemon 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence search API
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: not asked: 24 wild photographs already from the GBIF download
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 8 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.