Australian Native Plants

  Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea Tee)


Melaleuca alternifolia photo
Flowers and foliage of Melaleuca alternifolia

Photograph by Geoff Derrin. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Melaleuca alternifolia photo
Flowers and foliage of Melaleuca alternifolia

Photograph by Geoff Derrin. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Melaleuca alternifolia photo
Flowers and foliage of Melaleuca alternifolia

Photograph by Geoff Derrin. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)



Growth Characteristics information is sourced from: State Flora Catalog, Government of South Australia Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.



TEA TEE FACTS

distribution map showing range of Melaleuca alternifolia in Australia

Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License


Common Name
Tea Tee

Other Names
Narrow-Leaved Paperbark, Narrow-Leaved Tea-tree, Narrow-Leaved Ti-tree, Or Snow-In-Summer

Description
Tea Tree is a tree or tall shrub growing to about 7 m tall. The bark is pale and papery. The leaves are narrow and grow 10 mm to 35 mm long and 1 mm wide. The plant flowers in profusion in spring and early summer. The flowers are white or cream and produced in bottlebrush spikes about 3 cm to 5 cm long. The fruit capsules are about 2 or 3 mm in diameter.

Habitat
along creeks and swamps

Distribution
occurs in the Kimberley district of Western Australia, the Top End of the Northern Territory and north Queensland

Growth Characteristics
Height (m): 3 - 5
Spread (m): 2 - 5
Soil Texture: sand, loam
Soil pH: acid soils, neutral soils
Frost Sensitivity: moderately sensitive
Minimum Rainfall (mm): 600
Flower Colour: white
Flower Season: summer

(source: SA State Flora Catalog)



Classification
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Myrtales
Family:Myrtaceae
Genus:Melaleuca
Species:alternifolia
Common Name:Tea Tee


Relatives in same Genus
  Melaleuca acuminata
  Melaleuca adnata
  Melaleuca argentea
  Melaleuca armillaris
  Melaleuca aspalathoides
  Melaleuca barlowii
  Melaleuca blaeriifolia
  Melaleuca bracteata
  Melaleuca brevifolia
  Melaleuca bromelioides
  Melaleuca calothamnoides
  Melaleuca calycina
  Melaleuca campanae
  Melaleuca cardiophylla
  Melaleuca carrii
  Melaleuca coccinea
  Melaleuca concreta
  Melaleuca conothamnoides
  Melaleuca cordata
  Melaleuca cucullata
  Melaleuca decussata
  see A-Z list for more ...