Melaleuca Traditional Cache

Melaleuca is an invasive tree originally brought to Florida from Australia. This one seems different, big and alone among the Live Oaks. Please BYOP and check the specific cache info at the bottom of the page.

Melaleuca trees (Melaleuca quinquenervia), also known as punk trees or paperbark tea trees, are native to Australia.  In that country, melaleuca is well-known, planted in parks, valued by beekeepers, attractive to birds and bats.  In fact, because of development, melaleuca trees in some parts of Australia are the subject of conservation efforts.

However, in Florida melaleuca is a pest, especially in the Everglades and wetlands where the trees grow into immense forests.  The problem with this is our native plants are being virtually eliminated.  Melaleuca grows in upland area (drier) as well as in completely aquatic locations.  The Everglades, the mostly treeless "river of grass," in some places has become the "river of trees," a completely alien habitat to the plants and animals that have evolved to live in the glades.  During the 50 years since its introduction into the state, melaleuca has taken over hundreds of thousands of acres of Everglades, threatening the very existence of this internationally known eco-treasure.

Melaleuca is found primarily in the more frost-free areas of south Florida and is found only occasionally in the warmer coastal areas of Pasco County.

Melaleuca produces huge quantities of seeds, which become small trees, which grow into almost impenetrable monoculture.  Researchers are attempting to find ways to control melaleuca:  herbicides are proving to be somewhat effective, but purposely-set management fires (and lightning-started fires) apparently actually help spread the seeds and trees.  Recently, biological control insects have been released against melaleuca, but it will be some time before biocontrol results will be known.

Melaleuca can grow into a 100-foot tree.  Its bark is whitish, spongy, peeling, and in many layers. Leaves are to 5 inches long, alternate, evergreen, simple, and narrowly elliptic.  Melaleuca's white flowers are small and crowded in bottlebrush-like spikes at branch tips.  The fruit are short, cylindric or squarish, woody capsules with many tiny seeds.

There now is a market for melaleuca mulch when harvested and chipped.  University of Florida research indicates it is one of the most termite-resistant mulches commonly available on the market.  If you cannot find this mulch from local retailers, ask the management to carry it.

Melaleuca quinquenervia (broad-leaved paperbark) is the most damaging of 60 exotic species introduced to the Florida everglades to help drain low-lying swampy areas. 

Melaleuca quinquenervia was introduced into Florida as early as 1900 when specimens were first planted near Orlando.

Melaleuca quinquenervia resprouts vigorously from epicormic shoots after bushfire, and has been recorded flowering within weeks of being burnt. Trees can live for over 100 years, with 40-year-old trees achieving a trunk circumference of 2.7 m in cultivation.

Status as an invasive species

Melaleuca quinquenervia has been classified as a noxious weed in six US states (Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Texas), as well as federally. It is an abundant exoric invasive plant in the Everglades. Its unchecked expansion in South Florida is one of the most serious threats to the integrity of the native ecosystem. This tree takes over sawgrass marshes in the Everglades turning the area into a swamp. Melaleuca causes severe ecological impacts, including displacing native species, modification of hydrology, alteration of soil resources, reducing native habitat value and changing the fire regime.

An experiment comparing the quantity of seeds held in the canopies of Melaleuca trees in Australia and Southern Florida found that the viability and amount of seeds found in Australia were lower when compared to those in Florida. Australian Melaleuca trees held 5,000 seeds with less than 20 viable, and Florida Melaleucas contained 13,000 seeds, with greater than 1,200 viable. So without a predator reducing the amount of reproductive structures in Melaleuca it can reproduce unchecked.

The release from natural enemies will cause the invasive exotic plant to evolve, improving its performance in the new area. This idea is supported by the results of a study on Melaleuca done by Pratt et al. (2005) showing that damage by herbivores reduced success in the following season as the reproductive structures declined by 80% with 54% less fruits. Biocontrol agents that have been released in Florida are the Oxyops vitiosa (weevil) and Boreioglycapsis (melaleuca psyllid). These insects are native to Australia and serve to reduce the growth and reproduction of M. quinqueneriva by feeding on young expanding leaves and phloem of the tree.

Melaleuca is known for its capability to withstand floods and droughts. If there is a canopy gap created by a flood or some other disturbance Melaleuca will establish to make use of the extra light. In physically disturbed sites, flourishing invaders have high colonisation abilities. For example, Melaleuca is constantly thinning itself of small branches and twigs and this causes many seeds to fall all the time along with the litter, so it is always dispersing its potential offspring. Melaleuca is also capable of living in disturbed habitats such as improved pasture, idle farmland, and canal affected areas. 

The climate in south Florida is similar to that in native Australia. Both regions have subtropical to tropical climate. As a result of this, Melaleuca has almost been pre-adapted for south Florida. Fire thrives in these environments and seed dispersal is displaced when fire occurs. 

Melaleuca bloom five times throughout the year, with individual branches supporting three out of the five. Each flower part can drop about 30–70 small seed capsules which can be viable for almost ten years. It was determined that each capsule contained about 200–300 seeds, dropping rapidly and can be found 170 m from the source tree. The seeds of M. quinquenervia appear to be well adapted to wet/dry seasonal climates and can even germinate underwater on soil substrate.

Recent studies comparing specific leaf area of invasive exotic plants with exotic non-invasive plants and native plants in relation to disturbances have shown that invasive have a larger specific leaf area than the other plants.This allows for faster growth, these results held up by many supporting studies have allowed Lake and Leishman to infer that invasive species are so successful because of their skill for fast growth, and greater capacity to capture and retain space. Melaleuca has definitely been shown to have these traits, such as in the Everglades where the Melaleuca population has increased 50-fold during the last 25 years.

Uses 

Melaleuca quinquenervia has multiple uses, and is widely used traditionally by indigenous Australians. A brew was made from the bruised young aromatic leaves to treat colds, headaches,  and general sickness.

The timber is tolerant of being soaked, and is used in fences.

On the way to and from the cache keep looking around in the "grass" (mostly weeds). You may spot some beautiful flowers. "Dusting of Snow".

"The plant is, in fact, Richardia grandiflora, and it is not native to Florida. It is now found pretty commonly in the southern half of the Florida peninsula. The plant is native to South America and is a widespread tropical weed. The somewhat artificially created common name for the plant is Largeflower Mexican Clover, thereby distinguishing it from Richardia scabra, which is Rough Mexican Clover, a weed also not native to Florida but with a broader distribution in the southeastern U.S. and whose flowers are not as large and showy as those of R. grandiflora.”

Richardia grandiflora, commonly known as Largeflower Mexican Clover, is native to South America and is a widespread tropical weed in Florida.

Richardia grandiflora, commonly known as Largeflower Mexican Clover, is native to South America and is a widespread tropical weed in Florida.

Richardia scabra, commonly known as Florida pusley, Mexican clover or monkey snow, gives the appearance of a dusting of snow on lawns throughout the Sunshine State.

And then there are these, which I don't know the name of yet. Anyone able to help? If so, please do.

The cache is a tied in, camoed, big, "small" pill bottle. This one has a snap cap. Follow the arrow on top to see where to press it open. Please make sure it is sealed all around when you're done. It holds only a rolled log with a rubber band, a tiny dry pack and a small (not tiny) plastic bag. The rubber band around that is bigger, to help make a neck on the bag to make it easier to get out of the bottle. Again, BYOP and no tweezers, please and try to put back as found (or better?) There's room for small SWAG.