Bottlebrush Tree Colouring

Bottlebrush trees and shrubs belong mainly to Australian species now classified in the genus Melaleuca; many were formerly placed in Callistemon. Depending on the species, a plant may be a 2-metre shrub or a tree around 10 metres tall, and healthy specimens can live for many decades. Their narrow evergreen leaves often have a fresh, aromatic scent when crushed. The famous flower spikes are made from many long stamens arranged around a stem. Together they look exactly like a brush used to clean a bottle. After flowering, small woody seed capsules remain clustered along the twig. Flowering is often strongest in spring and early summer, although warm climates may produce extra blooms. Nectar attracts honeyeaters, lorikeets, bees and butterflies. The picture shows a rainbow lorikeet reaching toward a brush and a bee visiting another. Birds can spread pollen as their faces touch the long stamens. Children should give feeding birds space and never try to touch them. Leaves may smell interesting, but parts of an unknown garden plant should not be tasted. Fallen flower spikes can be observed without breaking a living branch. Most bottlebrush flowers are bright red, but some species and cultivars bloom pink, purple, cream, yellow or white. Colour each central flower stem first, then sweep fine colour outward along the many stamens. Leave the round tips visible in a darker shade. Use olive, blue-green or fresh green for the narrow leaves, and grey-brown or tan for the trunk. Woody capsules can be beige or brown. A rainbow lorikeet lives up to its name: try a blue head, green wings, orange-red chest and yellow details, while keeping the beak orange or red. Give the bee warm yellow and brown stripes. Colour the path pale cream, the grass spring green and the sky gentle blue. The brush flowers contain more fine lines than many pages, so work slowly from one end to the other instead of scribbling across them. Broader strokes suit the trunk and open ground. Keep the background light and leave white gaps between flower spikes, allowing the unusual cylindrical blooms and visiting bird to remain easy to recognise.

◫ A4 size✎ Bold outlines♡ Ages 3–8

Download JPEGHigh-resolution A4 image Download PDFPrint-ready A4 file

Make it an activity

Choose a favourite colour palette
Add a simple background
Display the finished artwork

Grown-up note: Please supervise printing and choose age-appropriate art materials.