{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{speciesbox | name = Hillock bush | image = Melaleuca hypericifolia-IMG 9178.jpg | image_caption = Cultivated specimen, Quito, Ecuador. | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author1=IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group |author2=Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) |name-list-style=amp |year=2020 |title=''Melaleuca hypericifolia'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T178029115A178030052 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T178029115A178030052.en |access-date=18 May 2026}}</ref> | genus = Melaleuca | species = hypericifolia | authority = Sm.<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |title=''Melaleuca hypericifolia'' |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:597978-1 |publisher=Plants of the World Online |access-date=30 August 2021}}</ref> | synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO" /> | synonyms = * ''Cajuputi hypericifolia'' <small>(Sm.) Skeels</small> * ''Metrosideros hypericifolia'' <small>(Sm.) Salisb.</small> * ''Myrtoleucodendron hypericifolium'' <small>(Sm.) Kuntze</small> }}
'''''Melaleuca hypericifolia''''', commonly known as '''hillock bush''', is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, genus ''Melaleuca'' and is endemic to New South Wales in Australia. It has large, orange to red flower spikes and consequently is a commonly cultivated species. In 1797, James Edward Smith described the plant as:
''"The most beautiful of the genus. It grows in swampy ground ...is plentiful in the English gardens, and was generally taken for an Hypericum, till it lately produced, in several collections near London, its elegant flowers."''
==Description== ''Melaleuca hypericifolia'' is a large woody shrub or small tree growing to {{convert|6|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} in height, with greyish papery bark. Its leaves are arranged in alternate pairs (decussate), {{convert|10-40|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|4-10|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide, narrow elliptic in shape with a central groove on the upper surface.<ref name=Brophy>{{cite book|last1=Brophy|first1=Joseph J.|last2=Craven|first2=Lyndley A.|last3=Doran|first3=John C.|title=Melaleucas : their botany, essential oils and uses|date=2013|publisher=Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research|page=201|location=Canberra|isbn=9781922137517}}</ref><ref name=Holliday>{{cite book|last1=Holliday|first1=Ivan|title=Melaleucas : a field and garden guide|date=2004|publisher=Reed New Holland Publishers|location=Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.|isbn=1876334983|pages=144–145|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name=NSW>{{cite web |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Melaleuca~hypericifolia |title=''Melaleuca hypericifolia'' |access-date=12 May 2015 |author=Wilson, Peter G.|work= PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain}}</ref>
The flowers are red to orange, arranged in a spike, usually on the older wood. The spike is up to {{convert|60|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} in both diameter and length and contains up to 40 individual flowers. The petals are {{convert|4.5-7|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and fall off as the flower ages. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower with 16 to 25 stamens per bundle. The flower spikes appear in spring and summer and are followed by fruit which are woody, oval-shaped capsules {{convert|5-6.5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long with the sepals remaining as teeth around the rim. As the plant ages, the capsules become compressed together.<ref name=Brophy /><ref name=Holliday /><ref name =NSW />thumb|225px|Fruit
==Taxonomy and naming== The species was first formally described by English botanist James Edward Smith in 1797 in ''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London'' from material collected in "swampy ground" in New South Wales.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Melaleuca hypericifolia''|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/boa/instance/apni/512712|publisher=APNI|access-date=23 July 2015}}</ref><ref name=Smith>{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=James Edward|title=''Botanical Characters of Some Plants of the Natural Order of Myrti.''|journal=Transactions of the Linnean Society of London|date=1797|volume=3|page=279|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/13713#page/305/mode/1up|access-date=12 May 2015}}</ref> The species name references the similarity of the leaves to those of species of ''Hypericum''.<ref name=Robinson>{{cite book|author=Robinson, Les|title=Field guide to the native plants of Sydney|publisher=Kangaroo Press|isbn=9780731812110}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Melaleuca hypericifolia'' occurs in damp areas of sandy heath and woodland in mostly coastal areas from Bermagui to Sydney and inland as far as the Blue Mountains.<ref name=NSW/> The species is naturalised in South Australia and Victoria.<ref name=NSW/>
==Use in horticulture== Hillock bush is a hardy, adaptable and attractive shrub that has been known in gardens for many years.<ref name=Holliday /> It is moderately frost hardy, although the flowers tend to be hidden inside the shrub.<ref name=Brophy /> It is a dense screen plant, unless pruned to display the flowers.<ref name=Wrigley>{{cite book|last1=Wrigley|first1=John W.|last2=Fagg|first2=Murray|title=Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping|date=1983|publisher=Collins|location=Sydney|isbn=0002165759|edition=2}}</ref> It has caused problems in some areas where it has spread from gardens into bushland in other states and care should be taken with the species in southern Victoria.<ref name=ANPSA>{{cite web|title=''Melaleuca hypericifolia''|url=http://anpsa.org.au/m-hyp.html|publisher=Australian Native Plant Society (Australia)|access-date=12 May 2015}}</ref> Two cultivars have been developed:
*''M. hypericifolia'' 'Snapper Point'<ref name=APNI(1)>{{cite web|title=Melaleuca hypericifolia ‘Snapper Point’|url=https://biodiversity.org.au/boa/name/apni/201913|publisher=APNI|access-date=12 May 2015}}</ref> *''M. hypericifolia'' 'Ulladulla Beacon'<ref name=APNI(2)>{{cite web|title=Melaleuca hypericifolia ‘Ulladulla Beacon’|url=https://biodiversity.org.au/boa/instance/apni/595261|publisher=APNI|access-date=12 May 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q6811037}}
Category:Flora of New South Wales hypericifolia Category:Myrtales of Australia Category:Plants described in 1797