Melicytus dentatus

An erect to spreading shrub, growing to around 5 metres high and up to 5 or so metres across (sometimes a small tree); sometimes stunted or prostrate in alpine areas, with prickly stems due to long axillary spines.

It is highly-similar in some cases to the native Bursaria spinosa – in foliage and form (and the two migth be confused in some cases).

It has a large natural geographic distribution, growing virtually across the entirety of the coast, tablelands and into the western slopes (much sparser here), and not common on the north coast subdivision; as far west as areas such as Albury, Dubbo and Orange, Warrumbungle National Park and Mt Kaputar National Park. It only just creeps into Queensland, to the west of Wallangarra and south-west of Stanthorpe. It is common in Victoria growing across most of the eastern half of the state and into the south-western quarter, just into South Australia, north of Mt Gambier. It is found in Tasmania, mostly around the Launceston-region. It is a weed in New Zealand.  

It grows in a wide variety of habitats, usually in open dry sclerophyll forests and woodlands, as well as wet sclerophyll forest and rainforest margins in some cases, as well as around lakes and swamps; on a wide range of soils from very sandy to alluvium to clay and volcanic.  

Melicytus spp. have simple and alternate leaves. In this species, leaves are sometimes clustered, to about 60 mm long by up to 11 mm wide; often seen about 40 mm long by 5 mm wide; oblanceolate to elliptic / narrow-elliptic to narrow-obovate, dark to mid-green with lower surface paler and with margins serrate to dentate; juvenile leaves often larger and more-toothed. 

Melicytus spp. produce flowers in leaf axils with flowers 5-merous with 5 sepals and petals; flowers often functionally unisexual with bisexual flowers having either ineffective male or female parts and the contrary functioning parts; with 5 stamens and 1 carpel. In this species, 1 or 2 flowers are produced per leaf axil, with a cylindrical corolla (campanulate) made of somewhat fleshy petals, to about 7 mm long; pale yellow to lemon yellow or off-white in colour and pendulous; both male and female flowers have a pleasant scent; flowers occurring from August to October. Reportedly, some plants are all female or male;  

The fruit of Melicytus spp. is a berry. In this species, it is to 8 mm long and wide, green in the early stages and then maturing to blue-grey to dark mauve-grey or white with a waxy coating; very conspicuous.