Melaleuca liniariifolia var. alternifolia Maiden & Betche.

Shrub, up to 7 m tall, with layered, papery bark. Leaves variously arranged, scattered to whorled often on one branchlet; petiole 1 mm long; blade linear-acute, 10-35 mm x 1 mm, 3-veined (often only mid-vein visible), puberulous, glabrescent, dotted with oil glands visible with a lens. Inflorescence a many-flowered, open to dense, upper-axillary or terminal spike; flowers solitary within each bract with tubular calyx up to 3 mm long and white corolla 2-3 mm long, stamens 30-60, white, clawed, pistil with 3-4 mm long style and capitate stigma. Fruit a many-seeded, globose, woody capsule, 2-3 mm in diameter.

On a range of soils (pH 4.5-7).

M. alternifolia occurs in the warm, wet east coast of Australia, often in swampy circumstances in dense impenetrable thickets. Mean summer maximum temperature is 27-31 deg. C, mean minimum 17-19 deg. C, mean winter maximum 18-21 deg. C, mean minimum 6-7 deg. C, and the species is frost sensitive. Leaf oil content is highest in warmer months.

M. alternifolia is only occasionally cultivated outside this region, mainly in botanical gardens.

For cultivation, seed is sown in nursery beds.

Seedlings potted when 4-6 weeks old and transplanted at a density of at least 35 000 trees/ha. Irrigation is very important.

Essential oils: The valuable essential oil, tea-tree oil or Australian melaleuca oil, is water- or steam-distilled from the leaves and small twigs. The oil is also of interest in the perfume industry, as it blends well with other oils while contributing its own distinctive note to soaps, deodorants and colognes. Medicine: This oil is mainly used for medicinal and veterinary purposes as a popular antiseptic because of its ability to penetrate unbroken skin.