Common name: Bottle brush, Barap lei (Manipuri), Cheel चील (Hindi)

Botanical name: Callistemon citrinus (syn. Callistemon lanceolatus) - [ (kal-lis-STEM-on) or (kal-lis-STEE-mon) meaning beautiful stamen; (sit-REE-nus) citron-yellow colored ] Family: Myrtaceae (Myrtle family)

Origin: Australia

The new leaves of many bottlebrushes are very ornamental. The leaves are often colored and, in some species, they are covered with fine, soft hairs. Bottlebrushes make excellent garden plants. The flowers can be spectacular and are irresistible to nectar-feeding birds and insects. Most species are frost tolerant.

Many cultivars have been selected from natural variants and hybrids between species. Some of these are very good garden plants.

Other species: C. brachyandrus, Prickly Bottlebrush - the tips of the small red flower-spikes are covered in yellow pollen. C. formosus, Kingaroy Bottlebrush - lemon-colored flower. C. salignus, Willow Bottlebrush - the flower-spikes are generally white or greenish but pink, red and mauve forms can be found. C. subulatus - this compact shrub grows from 1 to 9ft tall. A freely flowering plant which produces red flower spikes over summer.

Courtesy: - Flowers of India - Dave's Garden - Top Tropicals - ZipCode Zoo - EcoPort