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Melaleuca quinquenervia

Authority
Family	Magnoliopsida:Rosidae:Myrtales:Myrtaceae
Synonyms	Melaleuca leucadendron L. p.p., Melaleuca viridiflora var. rubriflora Brong. & Gris
Common names	belbowrie (Australia), broad-leafed paperbark tree, broad-leaved paperbark (Australia), broad-leaved tea-tree (Australia), five-veined paperbark, melaleuca, numbah (Australia), paperbark tea-tree (Australia), white bottlebrush (USA)
Editor
Ecocrop code	1431

Notes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION A small to medium sized tree 4-25 m in height. In favourable situations it has a moterately straight and slender trunk up to 30 cm in diameter to 1/2 of the tree height. USES The wood can be used as fuel and for charcoal. The timber can be utilized as mine timber, fence posts, rail material, flooring, house timber, and pulp. It is a good source of honey and of pollen for bees. The leaves contain an essential oil with medicinal properties. The tree can be used for windbreaks, erosion control, and as an ornamental. Mentioned as a possible agroforestry species. GROWING PERIOD Perennial moderately fast growing tree. Trees in Hawaiian plantations on favourable sites have average 18 m in height and 50 cm in diameter in 40 years. Withstands droughts of up to 4 months. COMMON NAMES Fine-veined paperbark, Broad-leaved paperbark, Paperbark, Tea-tree, Broad-leaved tea-tree, Paperbark tea-tree, Bottlebush, White bottlebush, Belbowrie, Melaleuca, Cajeput, Cajeput-tree, Cayeputi, Corcho, Samed, Kayuputeh, Punktree, Numbah, Naiouli, Naioli, Kayaputih. FURTHER INF Paperbark is native to Australia from Sydney north along the coast to the Cape York peninsula in Papua New Guinea and to New Caledonia. In Florida it has escaped cultivation and is multiplying as a weed tree. In Australia the tree occurs up to 1000 m in elevation, in Hawaii up to 1400. It is usually found near the coast in seasonal swamps, along streams, in marshes and at the edges of tidal water, but it also occurs on well-drained slopes and upland ridges. The latitudinal range in Australia is about 11-34°S. It is fire-tolerant.
Sources
SOURCES (M. quinquenervia (Cav.) S.T. Blake) National RC 1983c pp 38-39 [DRA, KTMP, LIMITS, USE, TEMP, RAIN, DEP, FER] Boland D 1984 pp 568-570 [TEMP, KTMP, RAIN, TEXT] Hensleight T 1988 pp 381 [TEMP, KTMP, RAIN, TEXT, DRA, SAL, USE] Turnbull J 1986 pp 282-285 [TEMP, KTMP, RAIN, TEXT, PH, DRA, FER, USE] Little E 1983 pp 190-193 [USE, KTMP, RAIN, DRA, TEXT, SAL]