"Snow in Summer"

It's nice to see the melaleucas ("paperbarks") out in bloom nearby.  These trees seem to do quite well in the urban environment, so I wonder why they're not used more often as a street tree (Edit - I've since noticed that there are more of them around than I first thought, such as Bambra Rd, Caulfield).


I assume that the variety we see around here is Melaleuca quinquenervia, even though it does not occur naturally as far south as Melbourne.  I was interested to see on Wikipedia that it has been classified as a noxious weed in six US states, and is especially troublesome in the Florida everglades (where it was introduced in about 1900, partly to assist in draining swamps - apparently effectively!)










Edit: here's another example in the local area that I've noticed since first posting this item (although not a street tree) ---