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Preiss's Paperbark

Melaleuca preissiana

Also called Modong

Preiss's Paperbark
Photo: Unknown author, CC-BY-SA-3.0

Preiss's Paperbark (Melaleuca preissiana) is a shrub or small tree from coastal southwest Australia, with papery bark and white bottlebrush-style flower spikes. It grows best in seasonally wet, sandy or peaty soils in full sun.

Family
Myrtaceae (Myrtle family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then as needed; tolerates seasonal wet ground but dislikes drying out completely.
Soil
Sandy, peaty or moist acidic soil; tolerates poor, free-draining sand.
Temperature
10–30 °C; frost-tender when young, protect below about 0 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
SW. Australia
Climate
subtropical

About

Melaleuca preissiana, commonly known as stout paperbark, modong or moonah, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of southwest Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with papery bark, small leaves and spikes of usually white flowers. It occurs chiefly in areas that are seasonally wet.

Where it grows

This melaleuca occurs in coastal regions between Jurien Bay, Western Australia and Albany in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions. It is one of three typical trees occurring in the peat of mound springs of the Swan Coastal Plain, ecological communities surrounding aquifer discharges of the Gnangara Mound.

Other Melaleuca plants

Kalbarri Beaufortia · Dark Beaufortia · Badgingarra Beaufortia · Beaufortia bracteosa · Beaufortia burbidgeae · Stirling Range Bottlebrush · Gravel Bottlebrush · Elegant Beaufortia · Beaufortia empetrifolia · Beaufortia eriocephala · Grey Leaved Beaufortia · Beaufortia interstans

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Melaleuca preissiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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