Melaleuca arcana

[MelaQuin]

Can anyone supply photos of bark and leaf of this tree? I have come a cropper trying to find anything useful on the internet. I have an unidentified tree and I have found a similar one with leaves [mine is currently naked and if it doesn't grow leaves this enquiry is useless but it could be weeks yet before I know if the tree is with me or gone to god..] In the meantime I would like to identify it. I would honestly like to know what use the RBG and the NBG websites are other than promoting their bookshops and their cafes... it surely isn't to supply info on Aussie plants. [Can you tell I'm cheesed at the moment]. Hopefully someone out there has more info than the experts are passing on.

[Pup]

Melaleuca arcana in the book by John .W. Wrigley and Murray Fagg. Page 217 distribution and ecology in moist,heathy hollows between coast and sand dunes.
Description. A tall shrub or small, almost columnar,tree to 10 metres,with white papery bark.
The young growth is clothed with flattened, silky hairs. The leaves are very variable in shape from broadly elliptical to oblanceolate and narrow lanceolate. Size also varies from1.5 to 5 cm long.
The white flowers tending towards pink at the base of the stamens are borne in terminal heads or short spikes in the upper axils. They are seen mainly in summer.
The stamens are about 8 mm long in bundles of 5-9. The fruits are crowded in globular heads about 1 cm across.
Cultivation.
In recent years ( this book was published in 1993 ) this species has become well known in tropical and sub tropical gardens.
The foliage is neat and the white bark is a feature.
The flowers are not showy, plants will except poorly drained situations but will also grow in well drained soils provided ample water is applied. Propagation is easy from seed or cuttings. I hope this of help this book is a wonderful one on the Leptospermum alliance. The ISBN 0 207 16867 9. It is not easy to find but well worth the trouble if you are into Natives. Pup

[MelaQuin]

Thanks Pup but I would still like to see line drawings or photos. I was after that book until I priced it at $USD 650 on Amazon. You could also get a better [?] copy for about USD$730... and bonsai might fly.

[Pup]

MelaQuin I was lucky mine was a gift from a friend that was getting out of natives and going into Satsuki.
Unfortunately as I said one of the few in the book that does not have a picture.
There is another book.
A field guide to Melaleuca's by Ivan Holliday not as comprehensive but good none the less.

ISBN 0 947334 09 2. There is also a second volume ISBN 0 646 31174 3 .