Shrub to 3 m tall with branches sometimes arching. Leaves decussate, narrowly lanceolate, to about 3 cm long, 4 mm wide. Flower spikes to 5 cm long on lateral growths on the old wood; spring to early summer. Flowers orange to pinkish or red but with golden anthers. Fruit capsules to about 1 cm long.
WA.
Others with a similar flower form include the following: M. fulgens subsp. steedmanii (C.A. Gardner) Cowley, with broad, flat, obovate leaves and filaments arising on the front, not the sides of the united stamen base; M. lateritia A. Dietr., Robin Red-breast Bush, from WA, with alternate leaves 1-2 cm long, flat, the stamens 1.5-2.5 cm long, orange-red to crimson, united only briefly at the bundle bases; and M. radula Lindl., Graceful Honey-myrtle, from WA, with decussate leaves and flowers white, mauve or pink.
Source: (2002). Myrtaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
