The species are
shrubs and
trees growing (depending on species) to 2–30 m (6.6–98 ft) tall, often with flaky, exfoliating
bark. The
leaves are
evergreen, alternately arranged, ovate to lanceolate, 1–25 cm (0.39–9.8 in) long and 0.5–7 cm (0.20–2.8 in) broad, with an entire margin, dark green to grey-green in colour. The
flowers are produced in dense clusters along the stems, each flower with fine small petals and a tight bundle of stamens; flower colour varies from white to pink, red, pale yellow or greenish. The
fruit is a small capsule containing numerous minute
seeds.
Melaleuca is closely related to the genus
Callistemon; the main difference between the two is that the
stamens are generally free in
Callistemon but grouped into bundles in
Melaleuca.
Callistemon was recently placed into
Melaleuca[4].
In the wild,
Melaleuca plants are generally found in open forest, woodland or shrubland, particularly along watercourses and the edges of swamps.
The best-accepted common name for
Melaleuca is simply
melaleuca; however most of the larger species are also known as
tea tree, and the smaller types as
honey myrtles, while those species in which the bark is shed in flat, flexible sheets are referred to as
paperbarks. The Tea tree is presumably named for the brown colouration of many water courses caused by leaves shed from trees of this and similar species (for a famous example see
Brown Lake (Stradbroke Island)). The name "tea tree" is also used for a related genus,
Leptospermum, also in
Myrtaceae.
One well-known melaleuca,
Melaleuca alternifolia, is notable for its
essential oil which is both
anti-fungal and
antibiotic, while safely usable for topical applications. This is produced on a commercial scale and marketed as
Tea Tree Oil.
In Australia,
Melaleuca species are sometimes used as food plants by the
larvae of
hepialid moths of the genus
Aenetus including
A. ligniveren. These burrow horizontally into the trunk, then vertically down.
Melaleucas are popular garden plants, both in Australia and other tropical areas worldwide. In
Hawaiʻi and the
Florida Everglades,
Melaleuca quinquenervia (Broad-leaved Paperbark) was introduced in order to help drain low-lying swampy areas. It has since gone on to become a serious
invasive species with potentially very serious consequences because the plants are highly flammable and spread aggressively. Melaleuca populations have nearly quadrupled in southern Florida over the past decade, as can be noted on
IFAS's
SRFer Mapserver
* Wikipedia *
