Creek tea-tree facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Creek tea-tree
Scientific classification
Genus:	Melaleuca
Species:	dissitiflora

The Creek Tea-Tree, also known as Melaleuca dissitiflora, is a special plant from the Myrtaceae family, which includes plants like eucalyptus. It grows naturally in Australia, especially in the drier parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia.

You can often find this plant in sandy creek beds and rocky areas. It looks a lot like another tea-tree, Melaleuca linophylla. Both have papery bark, thin leaves, and loose groups of creamy-white flowers. However, the Creek Tea-Tree has slightly bigger flowers and more stamens (the parts that hold pollen). Scientists are also looking into whether this plant could be a good source of "tea tree" oil, perhaps even better than the usual Melaleuca alternifolia!

What Does the Creek Tea-Tree Look Like?

The Creek Tea-Tree is usually a tall, bushy shrub. It can grow to be about 2 to 5 meters (6.5 to 16 feet) tall and 2 to 4 meters (6.5 to 13 feet) wide. It has grey bark that feels like paper.

Its leaves are arranged one after another along the stem. They are about 13 to 50 millimeters (0.5 to 2 inches) long and 1 to 5.5 millimeters (0.04 to 0.2 inches) wide. The leaves are smooth, except when they are very young. They are long and narrow, or sometimes oval-shaped, and they taper to a point.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers of the Creek Tea-Tree are white or cream-colored. They grow in spikes at the ends of the branches. Even after the flowers bloom, the branches keep growing! Each flower spike is about 12 millimeters (0.5 inches) wide and up to 60 millimeters (2.4 inches) long. Each spike can have between 10 and 30 individual flowers.

The petals of each flower are grouped into five bundles, and each bundle has 15 to 35 stamens. This plant often blooms in winter, but its flowering time can change. After the flowers, the plant produces woody capsules (like small seed pods). These capsules are about 2.2 to 3.5 millimeters (0.09 to 0.14 inches) long and grow in round clusters around the stem.

How Did the Creek Tea-Tree Get Its Name?

The Creek Tea-Tree, Melaleuca dissitiflora, was first officially described in 1863. A scientist named Ferdinand von Mueller wrote about it in his book Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. He studied a plant sample collected by the explorer John McDouall Stuart.

The second part of its scientific name, dissitiflora, comes from two Latin words: dissitus, meaning "apart" or "remote," and flos, meaning "flower." This name refers to how the flowers are arranged in loose groups on the plant.

Where Does the Creek Tea-Tree Grow?

You can find Melaleuca dissitiflora in the dry inland areas of Australia. For example, it grows in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. It also lives in the Northern Territory and western Queensland. There's even a separate group of these plants in the Rawlinson Range in Western Australia, close to the border with the Northern Territory.

This plant likes to grow in rocky places, in temporary waterways (creeks that only flow after rain), and in areas with alluvium (soil deposited by water).

What Are the Uses of the Creek Tea-Tree?

Growing Creek Tea-Trees in Gardens

People have grown Melaleuca dissitiflora in a few places, even where there isn't much rain (as little as 700 millimeters or 27.5 inches per year). It is known to be a fast-growing plant that can handle frost well.

Essential Oils from the Leaves

The leaves of the Creek Tea-Tree contain important essential oils, like 1,8-cineole (also called Eucalyptol). Scientists have studied these trees in the dry area near Alice Springs. They found that many of these trees produced an essential oil with high levels of terpinen-4-ol and p-cymene. These levels were even higher than what is usually found in commercial tea tree oil, which mostly comes from Melaleuca alternifolia. This means the Creek Tea-Tree could be a valuable source for these oils!

See also

In Spanish: Árbol del té de arroyo para niños