Chamelaucium uncinatum

Waxflower, Waxflower

Family: Myrtaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Waxflower is a naturalized shrub found in southern coastal California, specifically in San Diego County. Flowering in spring, this plant produces delicate white, pink, or purple flowers less than 2 centimeters wide, with spreading, almost round petals. Growing up to 3 meters tall with a glabrous (smooth) form, the shrub has distinctive linear or awl-shaped leaves 1.6 to 4 centimeters long and extremely narrow, with a downcurved tip and glandular texture. Its leaves are remarkably slender, measuring only 0.5 to 1 millimeter wide, with an impressed midvein and nearly invisible lateral veins. The plant produces flowers in raceme-like clusters or individually in leaf axils, with short peduncles 4 to 12 millimeters long.

Bloom period: Spring

Bioregions: s SCo (San Diego Co.)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.