Melaleuca quinquenervia |
Melaleuca linariifolia |
|
---|---|---|
broad-leaf paperbark, niauoli, punk tree |
cajeput tree, snow-in-summer, tea tree |
|
Habit | Trees, 1–18 m; bark papery. | Trees or shrubs, 2–10 m; bark papery. |
Leaves | alternate; blade usually narrowly elliptic to elliptic, rarely somewhat falcate, 5.5–12 × 1–3.1 cm, veins 5–7, longitudinal, surfaces glabrescent. |
opposite (decussate); blade narrowly elliptic to linear-elliptic, 1.7–4.5 × 0.1–0.4 cm, veins 3, longitudinal, surfaces soon glabrescent. |
Inflorescences | 15–54-flowered, flowers in triads, pseudoterminal, sometimes also axillary distally, to 40 mm wide. |
4–20-flowered, flowers in monads, pseudoterminal, sometimes also axillary distally, to 40 mm wide. |
Flowers | calyx lobes glabrous abaxially, margins scarious, 0.3–0.4 mm wide; petals deciduous, 2.5–3.5 mm; filaments connate in bundles of 5–10, white, cream, greenish white, green, creamy white, or creamy yellow, 10.5–20 mm, bundle claw 0.9–2.5 mm; style 11–18 mm; ovules ca. 50–65 per locule. |
calyx lobes glabrous abaxially, margins scarious, 0.1–0.2 mm wide; petals deciduous, 2.5–3.3 mm; filaments connate in bundles of 32–73, white or cream, 8.8–24 mm, bundle claw (5.5–)8–16 mm; style 3.5–5.2 mm; ovules 85–120 per locule. |
Capsules | 2.7–4 mm. |
2.5–4 mm. |
Cotyledons | obvolute. |
plano-convex. |
2n | = 22. |
|
Melaleuca quinquenervia |
Melaleuca linariifolia |
|
Phenology | Flowering year-round (commonly in fall). | Flowering late spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas. | |
Elevation | 0–30 m. (0–100 ft.) | 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; LA; Asia (Malesia); Pacific Islands (New Caledonia); Australia [Introduced in North America; introduced also elsewhere in Pacific Islands (Hawaii), widely elsewhere] |
FL; Australia [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Melaleuca quinquenervia is a serious woody weed of wetland habitats in Florida and Louisiana. Mechanical control has not been successful and research in recent years has been focused upon biological control. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Melaleuca linariifolia is one of the sources of the essential oil called tea tree oil. Its massed flowers make it a striking garden plant in summer. Melaleuca linariifolia has been erroneously called cajeput in North America (R. P. Wunderlin and B. F. Hansen 2011); cajeput or cajuput is M. cajuputi. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 10. | FNA vol. 10. |
Parent taxa | Myrtaceae > Melaleuca | Myrtaceae > Melaleuca |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Metrosideros quinquenervia | |
Name authority | (Cavanilles) S. T. Blake: Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 69: 76. (1958) | Smith: Trans. Linn. Soc. London 3: 278. (1797) |
Web links |