Melaleuca

Scientific name

Melaleuca L.

Common names

paperbark, tea tree, melaleuca, honey myrtle

Family

Myrtaceae

Native distribution

Australia

Species cultivated

(plus cultivated varieties and hybrids)

Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) S.T. Blake

U.S. Federal Noxious Weed: Melaleuca quinquenervia

Identification: M. quinquenervia spreads rapidly, is fire adapted, and releases massive quantities of seed only upon disturbances such as fire, frost or pruning.

See Melaleuca quinquenervia disseminule fact sheet.

Adventive distribution

Melaleuca quinquenervia is introduced into tropical and sub-tropical lowlands worldwide (Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America).

Weed status

Melaleuca quinquenervia is an aquatic weed on the U.S. federal noxious weed list.

Habit

amphibious amphibious:
(adj) of a plant able to live on land or in water
shrub or tree, often forming dense stands when invasive

Brief description

Shrub to large tree; bark layered, typically pale and papery in amphibiousamphibious:
(adj) of a plant able to live on land or in water
species. Leaves alternatealternate:
(adj) (of leaves) bearing one leaf per node; placed singly on the stem at different heights
, very short-petiolate; leaf bladeblade:
(n) (syn. lamina) the flat, expanded part of a leaf, frond, or petal (excluding, e.g., the petiole)
lanceolate to elliptic; apexapex:
(n) the point farthest from the point of attachment; the tip (often pointed)
acuteacute:
(adj) tapering to a sharp, pointed apex with more or less straight sides; broader than acuminate; forming an angle of less than 90 degrees
; base attenuateattenuate:
(adj) narrowing gradually to a point
; margins entireentire:
(adj) having a continuous margin that is not toothed or lobed
; venationvenation:
(n) the arrangement of veins in a leaf
parallel; young leaves glabrousglabrous:
(adj) without hairs or scales
to softly pilose, glabrescentglabrescent:
(adj) becoming hairless at maturity
; oil glands present. Flowers in a terminalterminal:
(adj) at the apex
spikespike:
(n) an indeterminate, unbranching inflorescence of sessile flowers or flower clusters on a usually elongated axis
or solitary or 2-3 together in upper leaf axils; white. Calyxcalyx:
(n) the outer whorl of the perianth; all the sepals of a flower
tube usually cup-shaped, lobes 5; petals 5, often clawed, free; stamens numerous, filaments long, basally connateconnate:
(adj) of plant parts congenitally united into a single structure
into 5 bundles oppositeopposite:
(adj) (of leaves) two leaves per node; in pairs on opposite sides of an axis
petals; ovaryovary:
(n) a hollow organ at the base of the carpel of a flower in which ovules are produced
3-locular, typically pubescentpubescent:
(adj) (1) covered with short, soft hairs; (2) bearing hairs
. Capsule cup-shaped to cylindricalcylindrical:
(adj) forming a nearly true cylinder
, small, woody; seeds small, numerous.

Natural habitat

along and in stationary or slow-flowing fresh or brackish waters

Additional comments

Melaleuca is a genus of over 250 morphologically diverse species. Many species are terrestrialterrestrial:
(adj) growing on land as opposed to living in water
and few are amphibiousamphibious:
(adj) of a plant able to live on land or in water
along watercourses or ornamental. The most commonly encountered amphibiousamphibious:
(adj) of a plant able to live on land or in water
species of Melelauca is the aquatic M. quinquenervia. The seedlings of M. quinquenervia require wet soil to shallow stationary water to establish. Wetland species have distinctive thick, white papery bark.