Melaleuca styphelioides (Prickly-leaved Paperbark), Australia

Recorded by Jane Richens atTabbil Forest, Dungog, New South Wales, 26 October 2023. The contact mic was nestled in the papery bark. Recorded during the first rain after a long dry period in spring 2023.

Melaleuca styphelioides ‘paper’ bark. Image: Jane Richens — *Melaleuca styphelioides ‘paper’ bark, the prickly-leaved foliage and a cluster of paperbark trees. Images: Jane Richens*

Melaleuca styphelioides prickly-leaved foliage. Image: Jane Richens — *Melaleuca styphelioides ‘paper’ bark, the prickly-leaved foliage and a cluster of paperbark trees. Images: Jane Richens*

The Prickly-leaved Paperbark is a tree with dense papery bark. The leaves are small and very sharp at the apex tip. This species is found in linear groupings in the ecotones between the dry rainforest and sclerophyll forest at Tabbil Forest near Dungog. We assume the arrangement of the trees in the landscape denote drainage lines—underground water sources or springs.

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