Melaleuca squarrosa

Mostly shrubby but occasionally a tree to 10 m or so high, glabrous except for the young shoots and axis; bark papery or corky but rough on old stems. Leaves decussate, ovate, 5–12 mm long, 3–7 mm wide, acute, cordate or truncate at the base, 5–7-veined, gland-dotted on lower surface; petiole c. 1 mm long. Inflorescence a terminal cylindric spike, to c. 5 cm long, 1.5–2.2 cm wide; axis hairy, growing on into a leafy shoot. Flowers in triad pairs subtended by rounded leaf-like bracts c. 3–5 mm long, fragrant; stamens 7–12 per bundle, lemon-yellow to creamy-white, claw c. 1 mm long, free part of filaments 5–7 mm long. Capsules wrinkled, round to elongate, 3–4 mm long. Flowers mostly late spring–summer.