U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
America's National Wildlife Refuge System
Volunteers and Invasive Plants: Learning and Lending a Hand
Melaleuca Origin
Native to New Guinea and Australia, melaleuca trees were planted in Florida in the early 1900s to drain the Everglades and to transform swamps into harvestable forests. Melaleuca also was planted to aid in flood control by protecting levees.
Treating the invasive melaleuca
(Melaleuca quinquinerva)
tree with herbicide
Dense melaleuca forest
Photo credit: USFWS (left)
MB Rayamajhi/USDA ARS, www.forestryimages.org (right)
Reference
Florida State University. http://www.fsu.edu/~imsp/silent_invaders/new_weeds/guide/. Accessed 2006 Aug 29.