About Melaleuca cajuputi Powell
Melaleuca cajuputi Powell is most often a medium to large tree, typically growing up to 35 metres (100 ft) and sometimes reaching 46 metres (200 ft). It has grey, brownish or whitish papery bark. New growth is covered in silky hairs, and becomes hairless (glabrous) when it matures. Its leaves are arranged alternately along the stems, measure 40–140 millimetres (2–6 in) long and 7.5–60 millimetres (0.3–2 in) wide, and taper at both ends. Flowers are white, cream, or greenish-yellow, and most are arranged in dense spikes at the ends of branches—branches continue growing after flowering. Flowers also often grow in the axils of upper leaves. Each spike holds 8 to 20 flower groups, with three flowers per group. Stamens are arranged in five bundles around each flower, and each bundle contains 6 to 18 stamens. Flowering time differs between subspecies. Fruits are woody, cup-shaped capsules that cluster loosely along branches, with each fruit measuring 2–2.8 millimetres (0.08–0.1 in) long. Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. cajuputi is distributed in the Dampier Peninsula, Calder River, and Fitzroy Crossing district of the Central Kimberley biogeographic zone in Western Australia, the northern Northern Territory (Australia), and East Timor. It grows in woodland, vine forest, gallery forest, and savannah forest, on clayey and peaty loam soil. Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. cumingiana (Turcz.) Barlow is distributed in Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia (specifically Sumatra, West Java, and south-west Kalimantan). It grows in coastal swamp forest. In Thailand, this species is called White Samet. Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. platyphylla Barlow is distributed in New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islands, and north-western Queensland (Australia) as far south as Cairns. It grows in habitats similar to those of Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. cajuputi.
