AbstractMelaleucaspecies occupy varied habitats acrossAustralia with 16 members of the genus occurring in theSydney district including the rare speciesMelaleuca deanei F. Muell. Little is known of their germination and recruitment requirements. This paper reports on experiments assessing the effects of temperature, water potential, fire cues, light and shade levels on germination in four species ofMelaleucanative to theSydney region. For the shade experiment, seedling survival at 12 months is also reported. The experiments tested the hypothesis thatM. deanei, which exhibits few seedlings in the field, has limited seedling recruitment because of its particular requirements for germination and establishment. Further, that it differs in these requirements from three common congenerics:M. nodosa(Sol exGaertn.)Sm.,M. thymifolia Sm. andM. styphelioides Sm. Results indicate thatM. deaneihas a substantially similar temperature and water potential range for germination to the common congeners from 15 to 35°C, and 0 to −0.65 ψ.Melaleuca nodosadisplayed the broadest regeneration niche on all factors assessed. Germination ofM. styphelioideswas significantly reduced in the dark andM. styphelioidesandM. deaneiwere most sensitive to shade in the seedling establishment/post‐germination phase.Melaleuca deaneihad significantly larger seed that was slower to germinate in all experiments. Germination of the four species was unaffected by the application of heat and smoke. The substantially similar germination parameters exhibited by the four species, despite differences in habitat, may reflect their close phylogenetic affinities. The effects of fire on stimulating seed release from the canopy, the high‐light environment post‐fire together with adequate follow‐up rainfall may all be critical in se