Melaleuca viridiflora, commonly known as broad-leaved paperbark is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is native to woodlands, swamps and streams of monsoonal areas of northern Australia and New Guinea. It is usually a small tree with an open canopy, papery bark and spikes of cream, yellow, green or red flowers.
Description
Melaleuca viridiflora is a shrub or small tree usually growing to tall, sometimes twice that height, with white, brownish or grey bark and an open canopy. Its leaves are long, wide, thick, broadly elliptic and aromatic. The flowers are cream, yellow, yellow-green or occasionally red and arranged in spikes on the ends of branch which continue to grow after flowering and sometimes also in the upper leaf axils. Each spike contains 8 to 25 groups of flowers in threes and is up to long and in diameter. The petals are long and fall off as the flower matures. There are five bundles of stamens around the flower, each with 6 or 9 stamens although the stamens are only weakly joined in bundles. Flowering can occur at any time of the year but most commonly happens in winter. Flowering is followed by fruit which are woody capsules long, scattered along the stem, each containing numerous fine seeds.
Taxonomy and naming
Melaleuca viridiflora was first formally described in 1788 by Daniel Solander, the description published by Joseph Gaertner in De fructibus et seminibus plantarum including a carefully drawn figure of the stamenbundle and fruiting capsules. The description was made during the forced stay of the Endeavour on the banks of the Endeavour River, at the site of the present-day Cooktown, during the first voyage of James Cook. The specific epithet is from the Latin' meaning "green" and ' meaning "flower" referring to the most common flower colour of this species.
Melaleuca viridiflora forests provide habitat for orchid species including the rare, threatened or endangered Calochilus psednus, Pachystoma pubescens, Eulophia bicallosa and Cardwellmidge orchid. Individual trees often host the epiphytic ant-house plant,. Plants distributed in south-eastern Florida in 1900 under the name Melaleuca viridiflora have been subsequently identified as Melaleuca quinquenervia.
Uses
Traditional uses
Melaleuca viridiflora is used by Aboriginal Australians for multiple uses. The bark is peeled off in layers and is used for shelter, bedding, containers, storing and cooking food, fire tinder, watercraft, fish traps and wrapping corpses. In traditional medicine, an infusion from leaves was drunk, inhaled or used for bathing to treat coughs, colds, congestion, headache, fever and influenza.
Essential oils
Different populations of this species yield different oils but there are two distinct groups. One is rich in terpenic oil but otherwise highly variable with three distinct chemotypes. Another population is rich in methyl cinnamate with two chemotypes.
Horticulture
Melaleuca viridiflora is a useful and adaptable small tree in cultivation, with the red-flowered form being preferred. It is suitable for tropical and subtropical areas where there is high summer rainfall, especially in heavy clay soils. Its open canopy makes it a useful host tree for epiphytes such as Dendrobium.
