5603.000 Melaleuca L.

Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate or opposite-decussate, petiolate or sessile, lamina leathery, secondary veins basal and parallel to leaf axis or pinnate. Inflorescence spikes, arranged in spikes or heads and pseudo-terminal or lateral. Flowers bisexual; hypanthium sub-globose or campanulate; sepals 5, caduceus or persistent; petals 5. Fruit capsules, semi-globose to globose, apically dehiscent. Seeds obovoid, testa thin.

Derivation of name: from the Greek: melas meaning black, and leukos, white, because the first Melaleuca described had white branches against a black trunk, possibly blackened by fire.

Worldwide: 246 species in Indo-China to Australia.

Zambia: 3 cultivated taxa.