Melaleuca dealbata

Melaleuca dealbata, commonly known as karnbor or blue paperbark, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to tropical areas in northern Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia. It is a medium to large leafy tree, growing in wet areas such as on the edges of coastal lagoons. It has papery bark, relatively large, blue-green leaves and spikes of cream-coloured flowers over a long period.

Karnbor
M. dealbata foliage and flowers.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Melaleuca
Species:
M. dealbata
Binomial name
Melaleuca dealbata
S.T.Blake

Description

Melaleuca dealbata is a relatively slow-growing tree to 25 m (80 ft) with blue-grey foliage, hairy, pendulous branchlets and papery, layered bark. The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches and are elliptic to oval in shape, 50–126 mm (2–5 in) long, 10–30 mm (0.4–1 in) wide and have five to seven prominent longitudinal veins. Young shoots and twigs are densely clothed in erect, white or silver hairs.[1][2]

The small, creamy-white flowers are loosely arranged in 7 to 28 groups of three on spikes up to 120 mm (5 in) long and 25 mm (1 in) wide. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower with 5 to 8 stamens per bundle. Flowering occurs from May to December but mainly in spring, and the fruit that follows are cup or barrel-shaped woody capsules, 2.5–3.5 mm (0.098–0.14 in) wide and long. When the fruit matures, the fine, sawdust-like seeds are released.[1][2][3][4]

The paperbark trunk of M. dealbata.

Taxonomy and naming

Melaleuca dealbata was first formally described in 1968 by S.T. Blake in Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium.[5][6] The specific epithet (dealbata) is from the Latin dealbatus, meaning "covered with a white powder".[1] There are a large number of common names for this plant, including karnbor, swamp tea-tree, soapy tea-tree, blue-leaved paperbark, blue paperbark, honey tree and cloudy tea-tree.[7]

Distribution and habitat

Karnbor occurs in southern Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Indonesia and northern Australia from north of Maryborough in Queensland through north Queensland to the Top End of the Northern Territory and into the Broome-Derby area and Weaber Range in the east Kimberley region of Western Australia.[2][3] It grows in warm to hot, humid, frost-free zones where the mean annual rainfall is mainly 1,100–1,750 mm (43–69 in) in summer. It is found in swampy areas near the coast and inland, mostly on wet sites along stream banks, on seasonally swampy ground and on the edges of lagoons with a range of soil types from sand to clay.[3]

Ecology

The nectar-rich flowers of this tree attract parrots, honeyeaters, flying foxes and possums.[8]

Uses

The timber from Melaleuca dealbata is moderately heavy and very strong suggesting its potential use for posts and poles. The tree is very decorative and useful for shelterbelts and soil stabilisation and has been used for the restoration of bauxite mining sites in northern Australia. It is an excellent source of nectar for honey production.[3] The species has been tested for its oil components and found to produce an essential oil in low yield, including predominantly monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes with variation between individual plants.[9]

References
  1. Brophy, Joseph J.; Craven, Lyndley A.; Doran, John C. (2013). Melaleucas : their botany, essential oils and uses. Canberra: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. p. 138. ISBN 9781922137517.
  2. Holliday, Ivan (2004). Melaleucas : a field and garden guide (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland Publishers. pp. 80–81. ISBN 1876334983.
  3. "Species bank: Melaleuca dealbata". Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  4. "Melaleuca dealbata". CSIRO Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  5. "Melaleuca dealbata". APNI. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  6. "Melaleuca dealbata S.T. Blake". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  7. "Melaleuca dealbata". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  8. "Swamp tea tree". North Queensland Dry Tropics. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  9. "Melaleuca dealbata Soapy tea tree" (PDF). Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
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