Invasive Species in Florida
The species M. quinquenervia was introduced to Florida in the United States in the mid 1880s to assist in drying out swampy land and as a garden plant. It formed dense thickets and displaced native vegetation on 391,000 acres (1,580 km2) of wet pine flatwoods, sawgrass marshes, and cypress swamps in the southern part of the state. It is prohibited by DEP and listed as a noxious weed by FDACS.
As an invasive species, M. quinquenervia raised serious environmental issues in Florida's Everglades and damaged the surrounding economy. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists from the Australian Biological Control Laboratory suggested releasing biological controls in the form of insects that feed on this species. In 1997 a weevil (Oxyops vitiosa) was released. It feeds on leaves and flower buds. The University of Florida reports that seed production has been reduced by about 50 percent "on trees they attack." Boreioglycaspis melaleucae (melaleuca psyllid) is also being released.
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A paperbark in Melbourne
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Melaleuca quinquenervia bark showing the papery exfoliation from which the common name 'paperbark' derives
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Paperbark trees in Tasmania after sunset
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19th century illustration of Melaleuca leucadendra
Read more about this topic: Melaleuca
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