Weeping Paperbark (Melaleuca leucadendra)

• A plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is widespread in northern Australia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and the Torres Strait Islands
• It is a tree, sometimes growing to more than 20m (70ft) with a trunk covered with thick, white, papery bark and weeping thinner branches. It has a long flowering season, can flower at almost any time of the year and is often grown as a tree in parks and on roadsides
• Aboriginal people used strips of bark from this tree and tied them to a frame of Dodonaea branches to build huts that were waterproof. The bark was used to wrap food before cooking in an underground oven called a kap mari. It was also used to wrap the bodies of their dead. The bark from trunks of very large trees was used to make bark canoes. The crushed leaves were used to treat respiratory infections and the flowers for making a sweet drink