It grows as a tree to more than 20 m (70 ft) with a trunk covered with thick, white, papery bark and weeping thinner branches.

Flowering can occur at any time of the year and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, 3.9–4.9 mm (0.15–0.19 in) long in loose clusters along the stems.

[11] The Malay name for the paperbark tree is gelam[12] and may have given its name to the Kampong Glam district in Singapore.

Aboriginal people used strips of bark from this tree and tied them to a frame of Dodonaea branches to build huts that were waterproof.

The bark was used to wrap food before cooking in an underground oven called a kap mari.

[14] The crushed leaves were used to treat respiratory infections and the flowers for making a sweet drink.

[4] This species of melaleuca is often grown in parks and as a street tree in tropical and sub-tropical areas like Brisbane[3] and as far south as Sydney.

[17] A range of essential oils can be distilled from this species, depending on where the trees occur.