Editing Melaleuca (section)

==Description==
Melaleucas range in size from small shrubs such as ''[[Melaleuca aspalathoides|M. aspalathoides]]'' and ''[[Melaleuca concinna|M. concinna]]'' which rarely grow to more than {{cvt|1|m}} high, to trees like ''[[Melaleuca cajuputi|M. cajuputi]]'' and ''[[Melaleuca quinquenervia|M. quinquenervia]]'', which can reach {{cvt|35|m}}. (One specimen of ''M. cajuputi'' reached a height of {{cvt|46|m}}.)<ref name=Boland>{{cite book|last1=Boland|first1=Douglas J.|title=Forest trees of Australia|date=2006|publisher=CSIRO|location=Collingwood, Vic.|isbn=9780643069695|page=612|edition=5}}</ref>

Many, like ''[[Melaleuca linariifolia|M. lineariifolia]]'', are known as paperbarks and have bark that can be peeled in thin sheets, whilst about 20% of the genus, including ''[[Melaleuca bracteata|M. bracteata]]'', have hard, rough bark and another 20% have fibrous bark. All are [[evergreen]], and the leaves vary in size from minute and scale-like (''[[Melaleuca micromera|M. micromera]]'') to {{cvt|270|mm}} long (''[[Melaleuca leucadendra|M. leucadendra]]''). Most have distinct oil glands dotted in the leaves, making the leaves aromatic, especially when crushed.<ref name="Craven" />{{rp|20–21}}

Melaleuca flowers are usually arranged in spikes or heads. Within the head or spike, the flowers are often in groups of two or three, each flower or group having a papery [[bract]] at its base. Five [[sepal]]s occur, although these are sometimes fused into a ring of tissue and five [[petal]]s which are usually small, not showy, and fall off as the flower opens or soon after. The [[stamen]]s vary greatly in colour, from white to cream or yellow, red, or mauve with their yellow tips (the [[stamen|anther]]s) contrasting with their "stalks" ([[stamen|filament]]s).<ref name="Craven" />{{rp|20–21}}

The fruits are woody, cup-shaped, barrel-shaped, or almost spherical [[Capsule (botany)|capsules]], often arranged in clusters along the stems. The seeds are sometimes retained in the fruit for many years, only opening when the plant, or part of it, dies or is heated in a [[Bushfires in Australia|bushfire]]. In tropical areas, seeds are released annually in the [[wet season]].<ref name="Craven" />{{rp|25–26}}