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Melaleuca leucadendra
Myricaceae FAMILY

Melaleuca leucadendra

Melaleuca leucadendra

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
4/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

A plant of the lowland tropics and subtropics, where it is found at elevations up to 800 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 28 - 37°c, but can tolerate 18 - 40°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 800 - 1,400mm, but tolerates 650 - 1,600mm[1]. Prefers a moisture-retentive to wet, neutral to acid soil and a position in full sun[2]. Tolerates light and saline soils[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 5.5 - 8.5[1]. Plants are able to withstand periodic inundation of the soil and strong currents. Established plants are drought tolerant[1]. Plants are very wind-firm, able to tolerate salt-laden gales[1]. On some sites, the plant has the potential of escaping from cultivation and becoming a weed[1]. A moderately fast-growing plant[1]. Annual wood production potential is 10 - 16 cubic metres per hectare[1]. Trees usually survive forest fires[1].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Melaleuca+leucadendra>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  3. [3]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  4. [4]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  5. [5]Medicinal Plants in Vietnam — Nguyen Van Dan & Doan Thi Nhu · World Health Organisation · 1989 · ISBN 92 9061 101 4 ↩︎An excellent book, giving information on over 200 plants, their medicinal compounds and applications.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.