What plant is this?

[Bob Cunningham]

This probably isn't the best newsgroup to ask this question, but it seems like it should catch a few eyes that are interested in landscaping and plants. If there's a better newsgroup for this topic, I would like to learn of it.

I would greatly appreciate it if someone could tell me the common and botanical names of the plant in the picture at

and first is the entire plant, a small tree in a container. The second is a close-up of the flowers and leaves.

I would also like to know about the climate zones the plant will survive in. It's now in San Diego, California. I'm wondering how it would do in an inner valley near Los Angeles--Santa Clarita to be more exact.

Best regards,

Bob Cunningham [e-mail]

[JimR]

It may be a Callistemon salignus - Willow Bottlebrush. According to

the willow bottlebrush "has attractive narrow foliage and white papery bark. It is drought resistant and quite hardy, although it can be affected by the frost in cold climates. The flower-spikes are generally white or greenish but pink, red and mauve forms can be found. An excellent garden and street tree which grows 5 to 12 m tall." (The URL is for an Australian government site).

[Bob Cunningham]

Some words of explanation are in order for readers of alt.usage.english: I posted my request for identification of a plant in alt.home.lawn.garden without noticing that I had "Followup-to" set to alt.usage.english. That's why the reply appeared here while my original message did not.

I apologize to AUE readers for this grossly off-t>

Many thanks to JimR for the prompt reply. I'll look up Callistemon salignus in my garden books.