Plants in the genus Thryptomene are shrubs with small leaves arranged in opposite pairs and white or pink flowers.

About forty-seven species of Thryptomene, occurring in all Australian states and the Northern Territory, have been formally described.

Plants in the genus Thryptomene are erect, slender shrubs typically growing to a height of 0.5–2.5 m (1 ft 8 in – 8 ft 2 in) with small leaves arranged in opposite pairs with oil glands especially visible on the lower surface.

The flowers are usually arranged singly or in pairs in leaf axils, and usually have five sepals, five white or pink petals and five, rarely ten or fifteen stamens.

[2][3][4] The genus Thryptomene was first formally described in 1838 by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher in Stirpium Australasicarum Herbarii Hugeliani Decades Tres, published in the journal Annalen des Wiener Museums der Naturgeschichte and the first species described was Thryptomene australis.