melaleuca

[ mel-uh-loo-kuh ]

noun

any of various chiefly Australian shrubs or trees belonging to the genus Melaleuca, of the myrtle family, including the cajeput and several species of bottlebrush.

Origin of melaleuca

<New Latin (Linnaeus), irregular coinage from Greek mélā(s) black + leukḗ, feminine of leukós white; so called from its black trunk and white branches

Words Nearby melaleuca

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use melaleuca in a sentence

The area is a disturbed wetland, invaded by non-native melaleuca trees that have crowded out native flora and fauna.
How to Catch a Giant Python | Catharine Skipp | February 28, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
The soil was excellent, and the brushes behind us abounded with a new species of melaleuca.
Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, Complete | Charles Sturt
Oil of cajeput, is prepared in the Moluccas, by distilling the dry leaves of the melaleuca leucadendron.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines | Andrew Ure
The principal channel of the creek was lined with a species of melaleuca, with slightly foliacious bark.
Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia | Ludwig Leichhardt
The Casuarina, which likes a light sandy soil, disappeared at the same time, and was succeeded by the narrow-leaved melaleuca.
Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia | Ludwig Leichhardt

A melaleuca with very small decussate leaves, a tree about twenty-five feet high, was growing on the scrubby ridges.
Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia | Ludwig Leichhardt

British Dictionary definitions for melaleuca

melaleuca

/ (ˌmɛləˈluːkə) /

noun

any shrub or tree of the mostly Australian myrtaceous genus Melaleuca, found in sandy or swampy regions

Origin of melaleuca

C19: New Latin, from Greek melas black + leukos white, from its black trunk and white branches

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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