Scientific Name : Melaleuca cajuputi Roxb. subsp. cumingiana (Turcz.) Barlow
Common Name : Paper-bark Tree, Cajeput-tree
Chinese Name : 白千層
Family : MYRTACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origins | Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Widely cultivated in tropical Asia. |
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| Meanings of name | The Chinese name “Thousand White Tiers (白千層)” describes the whitish bark of the species peeling off into layers, looking as if the trees have numerous layers of bark. Therefore, Paper-Bark Tree is one of the street tree species which can easily be identified in urban area. You can know its identity by simply looking at the trunk which is characterised by the endless layers. |
| Applications | Having fast growth rate, with elliptic-concial shaped crown, dense leaves and branches and frequent flowering, Paper-bark Tree was widely adopted as street tree. Since the species is exotic, all existing Paper-bark Trees in Hong Kong are produced through cultivation. The volatile oil stored in its leaves and branchlets can be used for medicinal and preservative purposes. Reportedly in the past, some villagers in Hong Kong rubbed the bark of the Paper-bark Tree on their bodies for the volatile oil to relieve pain. |
| Toxicity | Leaves and pollens of Paper-bark Tree should not be ingested because of its toxicity which may lead to failure of circulatory and respiratory system. |
| Growing habit | Evergreen tree. |
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| Height | To 18 m. |
| Roots | Sometimes with buttress root. |
| Stems | Bark of trunk thick, greyish white, exfoliate in thin layers, soft and spongy in texture. |
| Leaves | Simple, alternate, leathery in texture, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic in shape, acute at both ends, or slightly falcate. Having numerous oil glands of volatile oil, fragrant when crumbled. Same colour on both leaf surfaces. |
| Flowers | White, arranged in spike at branchlets apex, 15 cm long. Stamen numerous, in about 1 cm long, pistil slightly longer, both exserted from corolla. Looks like a bottle cleaning brush from a distance. |
| Fruits | Capsule, lignified, subglobose, dehiscent. |
| Flowering period | March to May, September to November in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | March to May, September to November in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website : https://www.herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=3069
Scientific names from other databases
― Flora of China : Melaleuca cajuputi Powell subsp. cumingiana (Turczaninow) Barlow
― Plants of the World Online : Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. cumingiana (Turcz.) Barlow