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''Melaleuca elliptica'', commonly known as the granite bottlebrush is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is commonly grown in gardens because of its neat foliage and showy, bright red flower spikes although it needs to be pruned regularly to avoid becoming woody and untidy-looking. It nature, it usually grows in the shrub layer in mallee woodland or heath. ==Description== ''Melaleuca elliptica'' is a shrub with pale grey, papery bark usually growing to no more than high and wide. Its leaves are arranged in alternating pairs (decussate), each pair at right angles to the ones above and below so that there are four rows of leaves along the stems. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped with the ends usually rounded, and long, wide with a short stalk. The flowers are arranged in spikes on the sides of the branches, each spike up to in diameter and long and containing 20 to 60 individual flowers. The flowers range in colour from the more usual dark red through to pinkish-cream and appear over a long period from as early as August to as late as April. The petals are papery brown, long and fall off as the flowers age. The stamens are arranged in bundles of five around the flower, with 12 to 33 stamens in each bundle. The fruits are woody capsules long and in diameter and form cylindrical clusters along the stem.〔〔 ==Taxonomy and naming== The species was first formally described by botanist Jacques Labillardière in 1806 in ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url= https://biodiversity.org.au/boa/instance/apni/511151 )〕 The specific epithet (''elliptica'') is from the Latin ''ellipticus'' meaning "elliptical"〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ellipticus )〕 referring to the shape of the leaves.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Melaleuca elliptica」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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