Common name: Tea Tree
Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden & Betche) Cheel APNI* 
Description: Tall shrub to 7 m high with papery bark.
Leaves irregularly arranged, scattered to whorled, linear, 10–35 mm long, c. 1 mm wide, apex acute, glabrous; petiole c. 1 mm long.
Inflorescences many-flowered spikes 3–5 cm long; rachis shortly pubescent. Flowers solitary within each bract, white. Petals broad-elliptic, 2–3 mm long. Stamens 30–60 per bundle; claw 6–12 mm long; style 3–4 mm long.
Fruit cup-shaped, 2–3 mm diam., orifice 1.5–2.5 mm diam.; sepals shed but sometimes tardily so.
Flowering: spring.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows along streams and on swampy flats, on the coast and adjacent ranges; north from Grafton district.
NSW subdivisions: NC, NT
Other Australian states: Qld
Text by Peter. G. Wilson
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 2 (1991)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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