[2][3] Flowers occur on the older wood in clusters up to 10 cm (4 in) long, 25 mm (1 in) in diameter and are pale to dark pink or lilac in colour.

[2][3][4][5][6] Melaleuca wilsonii was first formally described in 1861 by Victorian State Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected by Reverend Julian Tenison-Woods in desert country near Tatiara and in the desert around Lake Hindmarsh by John Dallachy.

[7][8] The specific epithet (wilsonii) is a reference to a Charles Wilson, a friend of Mueller who apparently had some role in drawing the species to the botanist's attention.

It grows in seasonally flooded and poorly drained soils in open scrubland, eucalypt forest and mallee heath.

[3][5] This species is often cultivated,[2] thriving in light to heavy soils and preferring a sunny, well-drained position.