About Maireana microphylla (Moq.) Paul G.Wilson
Maireana microphylla is a weakly upright shrub that usually grows up to 1 metre (3 feet 3 inches) tall. It has slender branches, which are sometimes covered with hairs pressed flat against the branch surface. Its leaves are alternately arranged, subterete, and most measure 2 to 4 mm (0.079 to 0.157 inches) long. Flowers are borne singly, but grouped into dense, leafy spikes. The fruiting perianth is glabrous, with a shallowly hemispherical tube 1.5 to 2 mm (0.059 to 0.079 in) in both height and diameter. It sometimes has a wing around 7 mm (0.28 in) in diameter, marked by a radial slit and a notched edge. Common name cottonbush, this is a widespread colonising species that grows in heavy loamy or poorer soils, found in south-eastern Queensland, eastern New South Wales and northern Victoria.
