Melaleuca cajuputi It is a woody plant that belongs to the Myrtaceae family. It is an evergreen tree with an erect trunk that can reach up to 30 m in height in the oldest individuals..
It is a native species of Australia and it colonizes the swampy forests of this and other countries of the region of Oceania and South Asia. Its common name is cajuput or melaleuca tree, and it is an evergreen plant with alternate leaves..
From the point of view of your applications, M. cajuputi It is a tree that is used to control various pests in crops. This is because this plant produces metabolites with antibiotic properties..
However, Melaleuca cajuputi is attacked by multiple pests, among which the attack by Puccinia spp. It is also a plant susceptible to some species of termites..
Article index
The trees of M. cajuputi they have an average height of between 15 and 25 meters. The young trees of this plant show an excurrent-like crown pattern, with a guide bud. If this bud is damaged, it is replaced by another. Thus, older trees show a pattern of multiple main stems..
Seedlings of Melaleuca cajuputi they develop adventitious roots that connect to the portion of the stem that is above the ground. Given the M. cajuputi tends to colonize flooded areas, the roots of this plant show a high percentage of aerenchyma. This somehow explains the tolerance of this plant to flooding..
Melaleuca leaves can be 45 to 140 mm long and 15 to 50 mm wide. In turn, the petioles are between 5 and 15 mm long. The leaves have long dense hairs that are narrowly elliptical in shape.
The inflorescence of M. cajuputi it is a spike up to 28 mm wide, with pubescent rachis. The hypanthus is pubescent, cup-shaped, 1.5 to 1.7 mm long and 1.7 to 2.5 mm wide..
On the other hand, the petals are 2.3 to 2.5 mm long, with circular or linear glands. The stamens can be 1.1 to 3.5 mm long and there may be eight to thirteen stamens per bundle, filamentous in shape, with cream coloration..
Melaleuca flowering can occur throughout the year. However, there are studies where it is shown that the production of flowers of this plant begins between October and November, with a maximum flowering in December..
After flowering, fruits develop in the form of capsules, which can contain approximately 264 seeds..
The trees of M. cajuputi require a hot climate, but are nevertheless tolerant to freezing.
The westernmost area where you can find the Melaleuca cajuputi, It has a climate that is characterized by being rainy and with mild winters. The coldest month has a temperature above 0 ° C and below 18 ° C.
The hottest month has a temperature above 22 ° C; and constant wet conditions in the driest month are due to rainfall of at least 60mm.
The trees of Melaleuca cajuputi they are well adapted to flooded, well-drained and saturated soils. Generally, the soils in which it grows M. cajuputi are found in the suborders Psammaquents, Aquods, and Saprists of the orders Entisol, Spodosol, and Histosol, respectively.
What's more M. cajuputi it establishes well in acid sands, organic soils and limestone of varying thickness. To establish themselves, the seeds require contact with a constant supply of water. However, they can also do it in mineral and organic soils.
Plants Melaleuca cajuputi they can tolerate high salinity conditions. In turn, they can also tolerate a pH range of 4.4 to 8.0. Seedlings, on the other hand, grow poorly in soils with a low concentration of nutrients. For this reason the roots of this plant tend to cover a lot of land..
Melaleuca cajuputi is distributed from Indonesia (southeast of Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea (southeast of Papua) and Australia (northeast of Queensland).
The ecological units that M. cajuputi tends to colonize are lowland flooded forests, open forests, echo tone between swampy monsoon forests and savannas, and riparian banks adjacent to a rain forest, among others.
The flowers of Melaleuca cajuputi they are a good source of nectar and pollen for local bees (Apis dorsata Y Apis florea) and for other insects, for which honey producers tend to have bees near the forests of the cajeput trees.
The forests of M. cajuputi provide the local population with many products such as wood for fuel and for building materials.
The essential oils extracted from the cajeput have multiple medicinal properties, which is why this plant is part of the traditional medicine of the regions of Oceania and South Asia.
Furthermore, cajeput essential oils are widely used in the cosmetics and perfume industry. Thus, worldwide a 50 ml bottle is priced around 3 euros.
From an environmental point of view, the trees of Melaleuca cajuputi help regulate water and climate, maintain relatively acidic soils and also provide refuge for wildlife.
The natural enemies of M. cajuputi they are insects, mainly weevils and termites. Weevil Oxyops vitiosa feeds on the tips of growing stems, leading to decreased growth and an interruption in flowering.
Likewise, the larvae of the piralid Poliopaschia lithochlora also cause damage to plants M. cajuputi. For their part, termites also cause severe damage to the stem structure of M. cajuputi.
The biotrophic fungus Puccinia spp causes severe damage to the foliar tissue of Melaleuca cajuputi, leading in some very extreme cases to the complete death of an adult individual. Young individuals are the most susceptible to this pest, especially in stressful environmental conditions..
Yet No Comments