The humble bottlebrush is set to take pride and place in around 50 new Australian citizens' backyards, with those attending being gifted the much-loved Australian native this weekend.
Dozens of Melaleuca recurva, or better known as the Tinaroo Bottlebrush have been hand-grown at Townsville City Council's Ken Armitage Dry Tropics nursery especially for the special Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony.
Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said the bottlebrush was known for its resilient nature throughout Australia and was fitting for those beginning new lives as Australian citizens.
"Australia is the greatest country in the world, and I firmly believe what makes it so great is the diversity of the people that call Australia home," Cr Greaney said.
"People choose to become Australian citizens because they too recognise our country's beauty, journey, resilience and bountiful opportunities – and I love that.
"Just like the humble bottlebrush, as Australians we are resilient, and I think it's a wonderful gift to be able to give our new Australians."
Councillor Greaney said the Ken Armitage Dry Tropics Nursery produced more than 25,000 native plants for Council projects, programs and events each year.
"Our amazing Dry Tropics Nursery gives us the opportunity to save money when it comes to procuring plants, instead growing our own, suited perfectly to our climate and needs," she said.
"Not only do we gift new Australian citizens a native plant grown right here in our backyard at the citizenship ceremony each month, but we often hold plant giveaways at events, tree planting days and not to mention tens of thousands of specially grown species for individual projects around the city.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing these beautiful red flowered bottlebrushes popping up around our city and thriving in the years to come, alongside our new Australians."
