Photo: Geoff Derrin, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Willow Bottlebrush

Callistemon salignus

Also known as White Bottlebrush, Willow-leaved Bottlebrush, Callistemon salignus, Melaleuca salignus

At a glance

Family

Myrtaceae (the myrtle family)

Type

Evergreen shrub or small tree

Parts used

Flowers and nectar (traditionally), foliage and bark (ornamental and wildlife value)

Size

10 to 25 feet tall, with a graceful, weeping habit

Bloom

Spring into early summer, with cream, pale yellow, or occasionally pink-blushed brush-like flower spikes

Habitat

Creek banks, floodplains, and damp woodland edges of eastern Australia, from Queensland down through New South Wales

Acquisition

Grow

This plant in HerbSense

Key benefits

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Draws nectar-feeding birds

Thrives in soggy, difficult soil

Long, showy bloom season

Handsome year-round screening plant

Traditional uses

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Long before it graced ornamental gardens around the world, Willow Bottlebrush grew wild along the creeks and billabongs of eastern Australia, where its brush-shaped flower spikes brimmed with sweet nectar. Aboriginal communities in the region traditionally sucked the nectar directly from the fresh blossoms or steeped the flower heads in water to make a naturally sweet drink, a simple bush tucker pleasure rather than a medicine. The soft, papery bark and pliant willow-like foliage also found small everyday uses around camp, though it was the tree's steady nectar flow, and the parrots and honeyeaters it drew in, that made it a familiar and welcome sight. Today it is prized mostly as a garden and street tree, valued for the same qualities that made it worth noticing in the wild.

How to grow & use it

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✦ Growing guide
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Pairs well with

✦Kangaroo Paw
✦Grevillea
✦Native Lomandra grasses

Substitutes

✦Callistemon citrinus (Crimson Bottlebrush)
✦Melaleuca linariifolia (Snow-in-Summer)

Choose it when

“You want a graceful, water-loving native that turns a damp corner of the garden into a haven for honeyeaters and bees.”

Did you know?

Botanists have folded nearly all Callistemon species, including this one, into the genus Melaleuca after DNA studies showed the two groups were really one and the same, so you may see it labeled Melaleuca salignus in newer references.

Safety

Willow Bottlebrush has no significant toxicity on record but isn't an established food or medicinal herb, so treat it as ornamental. Handling the leaves or flowers can irritate skin for some people.