A Tale of Two Tea Trees

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A Tale of two Tea Trees at Tea Tree Bay

One of the beautiful beaches
on the headland in the national park
is named after the native Tea Tree...

But which Tea Tree?
You see there are two Tea trees ...

This gnarly old grandad of a tree
is a Melaleuca - a tea tree,
commonly called a paper bark

for this reason

and it is from the Melaleuca
that tea tree oil is obtained
Tea Tree oil is both a fungicide and an anti-biotic.

Tea Tree oil is good for tinnia.
Hands up those with tinnia...



When son#2 went to the school camp at Googa
he took with him a bottle of Tea Tree oil.
Unfortunately in transit the bottle broke
filling his toilet bag with oil.

Now Tea tree oil has
a very strong and pungent odour
somewhat akin to deep heat
and for the month of the camp
son#2 had to clean his teeth
with a brush that never lost
its Tea tree aroma or flavour.


I can't recall
the status of the untreated tinnia
after one month of camp...

The other Tea tree is Leptospermum
which comes in a variety of shrubby forms.

It is from the Leptospermum
that the rain water
running in little streams
through the forest and into the ocean
obtains a brown colour resembling black tea.

It is said that Captain Cook, on the Endeavour,
when voyaging to the Southern Lands
boiled the leaves of the Leptospermum
to brew a Vitamin C rich beverage
to ward off scurvy in his crew.



But now the question remains...
After which tree is Tea Tree Bay named?



And the answer...

I don't know
but would imagine that because
of the large stands of paper barks
in the bay
it is likely to be the Melaleuca,

but then again
when it rains the tea coloured run off
rushes down the hillsides in little rivulets
merging into a stream which exits the forest
and empties into the ocean
at Tea Tree..

so it could be the Leptospermums
that give the bay its name...


But whatever the origins of the name,
because there is only walking access,
it is a beautiful, peaceful bay
as they all are in the Noosa National Park...


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