About Melaleuca uncinata R.Br.
Melaleuca uncinata R.Br., commonly called broombush, is a multi-stemmed evergreen plant. It most often grows as a shrub under 2 metres tall, and occasionally grows as a small tree less than 5 metres tall. It is commonly found growing alongside mallee eucalypts. Its leaves are spreading or ascending, linear in shape, almost circular in cross-section, and 19 to 56 millimetres long and 0.8 to 1.2 millimetres wide. Each leaf tapers to a distinctly curved hook, and has large oil glands along its edges. The plant's flowers are white, cream, or yellow, and are attractive to birds. The flowers are arranged in dense, almost spherical heads 15 to 17 millimetres in diameter, located in leaf axils. Each head holds between 4 and 19 groups of flowers, with 3 flowers in each group. Stamens are arranged in five bundles around each flower; each bundle contains 3 to 5 stamens that are cream, white, or pale greenish-cream. Flowering occurs from August to December. After flowering, the resulting fruits grow tightly packed together, forming a group 7 to 13 millimetres in diameter. This melaleuca is distributed across the Coolgardie-Esperance region of Western Australia, the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, and extends east into western Victoria and south-western New South Wales. Ecologically, Melaleuca uncinata is the only known host of Rhizanthella gardneri, the critically endangered "underground orchid".
