Family: Myrtaceae

Melaleuca megacephala (hillock bush, red-flowered paperbark) is an upright bushy shrub native to Western Australia. It is not common in cultivation, but the leaves can be used to extract essential oils. The oils can be used as an aromatherapy and as a natural insect repellent. The yellow bottle brush flowers can serve as a pollinator attractant. It is used sometimes as an ornamental plant or as a screen. This plant has not been documented as naturalized in any Hawaiian Islands to date.

High Risk Traits:

• Grows in arid climates
  
• Naturalized outside natural range in Western Australia
  
• Other Melaleuca species are invasive
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Reported to form thickets in Australia (unknown if able to exclude other vegetation)
  
• Reproduces by seeds
  
• Seeds dispersed by wind, possibly water and intentionally by people
  
• Gaps in biological and ecological information may reduce accuracy of assessment

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
  
• Not reported to spread vegetatively
  
• Herbicides may provide effective control