''Melaleuca dealbata'', commonly known as karnbor or blue paperbark, is a plant in the myrtle

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

and is native to tropical areas in northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. 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.

Description

''Melaleuca dealbata'' is a relatively slow-growing tree to 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, long, wide and have five to seven prominent longitudinal veins. Young shoots and twigs are densely clothed in erect, white or silver hairs. The small, creamy-white flowers are loosely arranged in 7 to 28 groups of three on spikes up to long and 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, wide and long. When the fruit matures, the fine, sawdust-like seeds are released. Melaleuca dealbata bark

Taxonomy and naming

''Melaleuca dealbata'' was first formally described in 1968 by S.T. Blake in ''Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''dealbata'') is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''dealbatus'', meaning "covered with a white powder". 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.

Distribution and habitat

Karnbor occurs in southern

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

and northern Australia from north of Maryborough in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

through north Queensland to the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and into the Broome-

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

area and Weaber Range in the east

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It grows in warm to hot, humid, frost-free zones where the mean annual rainfall is mainly 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.

Ecology

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

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. 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.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15370497 bracteata Myrtales of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of Western Australia Flora of New Guinea Plants described in 1968