Scientific name: Melaleuca? leucadendron L.

Alias: peeling tree, Melaleuca bark, jade tree, Melaleuca white, jade butterfly

Life style: Evergreen Tree

Main features: 18 meters high; bark is gray-white, thick and soft, peeling off in thin layers; twigs are gray-white. The leaves are alternate, leathery, lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 4-10 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, pointed at both ends, with 3-5 (-7) veins at the base, many oil glands, and rich aroma. ; Petiole extremely short. The flowers are white, densely clustered on the top of the branches to form spikes, up to 15 cm long. The inflorescence axis often has short hairs; the calyx tube is oval, 3 mm long, hairy or hairless, with 5 calyx teeth, round, and about 1 mm long. Petals 5, ovate, 2-3 mm long, 3 mm wide; stamens about 1 cm long, often in bunches of 5-8; style linear, slightly longer than stamens. Capsule nearly spherical, 5-7 mm in diameter. Flowering occurs several times a year.

Growth habits: It likes a warm and humid environment, requires sufficient sunshine, has strong adaptability, can tolerate drought, high temperature and poor soil, and can also tolerate light frost and short-term low temperatures of around 0℃. The soil requirements are not strict.

Adapted area: Native to Australia. It is cultivated in Guangdong, Taiwan, Fujian, Guangxi and other places in China.

Garden application: The bark is colorful, beautiful and fragrant, and can be used as a barrier tree or street tree. Trees are often planted along roadsides as their bark can easily cause fires, making them unsuitable for afforestation.

——Excerpted from "Flora of China"