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PAPERBARK Melaleuca Leucadendra

The Paperbarks, of the Melaleuca species, are one of the most distinctive Australian plants due to their distinctive peel-ing paper-like bark which lifts off in large papery sheets. Melaleucas are also often mistaken for Eucalyptus trees. They are in a separate genus, but in the same family. A member of the very large family Myrtaceae, the genus Melaleuca is widespread in Australia, from the tropical north where paperbark swamps are common, through the arid inland, often in sandy or gravelly soils, to the wet, cold coastal areas of western Tasmania.

The Melaleuca Leucadendra tree is native to Queensland, Western Aus-tralia and the Northern Territory, widely distributed from the Kimberleys to Cape York, and south as far as Bundaberg. Also known as the White Paperbark, it is a common sight around far north Queens-land. While the trees often occur arching gracefully over rivers and lagoons, they are also found in forests in tall, straight form up to 40 metres high. A large, hardy tree, they are usually found associated with fresh water although some of the beaches north of Cooktown are lined with Melaleuca leucadendra, and the trees are inundated with salt water at high tide.

The bark protects the tree during fires. The tree produces sweet smelling white flowers which give off a strong scent of honey. The heartwood is pinkish brown in colour, with the sapwood distinctly paler. The grain is often interlocked, and the timber has a fine and even texture.

Indigenous Australians used Melaleuca to make rafts, roofing for shelter, bandages, and to cook food. A moderately durable timber with a long history of use as fence posts, railway sleepers and pit props, where the trunks are straight enough, the timber can be sawn into planks and used for flooring. It must, however, be very carefully dried and sea-soned, as it is prone to splitting and warping.

Source: Damon Ramsey Nature Guides, The Mojowire, Australia.gov.au, Wikipedia, somemagneticislandplants.com.au

The Ironbark Gallery

Stunning Paperbark bowl

The ‘tiger’ - natural shape

of a Paperbark burl