bottlebrush

American  

[bot-l-bruhsh] / ˈbɒt lˌbrʌʃ /

noun

Botany.

1. any of various trees or shrubs of the myrtle family, especially of the genera Callistemon and Melaleuca, native to Australia and adjacent areas, having spikes of flowers with numerous conspicuous stamens.

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bottlebrush British  

/ ˈbɒtəlˌbrʌʃ /

noun

1. a cylindrical brush on a thin shaft, used for cleaning bottles

2. Also called: callistemon.  any of various Australian myrtaceous shrubs or trees of the genera Callistemon and Melaleuca , having dense spikes of large red flowers with protruding brushlike stamens

3. any of various similar trees or shrubs

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Etymology

Origin of bottlebrush

1705–15; bottle ¹ + brush ¹; so called from the resemblance of the flower spike to a brush used for cleaning bottles, with bristles on all sides of a central stem

Example Sentences

That is, until Cai's team, led by Ph.D. student Baiqiang Huang, proved otherwise with their new "foldable bottlebrush polymer networks."

From Science Daily • Nov. 27, 2024

The TreePeople team, caring mostly for drought-tolerant species like gold medallion tree, Chitalpa, and lemon bottlebrush, recommends 15 gallons, poured slowly onto the base of the tree, every week for the first three years.

From Salon • Oct. 26, 2022

“Look at that caterpillar,” Andrew J. Brand said one afternoon as we passed a hummocky old bottlebrush buckeye shrub in my garden.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2022

Their landscaping of sedge grasses, bottlebrush and strawberry trees was untouched too, except for some scorched lavender.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 16, 2019

Harry clutched the window ledge in relief as he recognized the bottlebrush tail.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling