Powder Me White

When in Bintulu I have met many glowing specimens of red make-up beauties, today in Kuching I stumbled upon the powdery white kind. It is the Cajeput Tree ( Melaleuca leucadendra) sometimes also called Melaleuca cajuputi. I saw one tall specimen in the middle of the park across the Kuching Waterfront area, nearby the"Astana" ( the Governor's Residence) and the new Sarawak State Assembly Building or the new DUN Building in short. DUN being the abbreviation for 'Dewan Undangan Negeri' or State Legislative Assembly. Many things attracted me to this tree. Firstly, it's outstanding height of above 40 feet with weeping branches and an open wide crown suggests a tree of character.

Further down the path, I saw a grouping of the trees situated close to the riverbank to indicate its preference for water-logged areas. This tree is native to Sarawak and Malaysia and is found in many coastal swamp forests. When I came close to one of the trees, I found out that the flowers are very attractive. They have white creamy flowers that appear like tiny bottle brushes with spreading hairs. The bark is spongy and papery and make it a habit to peel off its white sheets when its time to do so. What convenience for a lady of style! The leaves are a light green and a medicated oil known as the Cajeput Oil is distilled from the leaves for external application of headaches. Weep no more Papery Beauty. You are a class of your own.

CU of the creamy white flowers.

Self-peeling and white papery bark makes changing make-up effortless.

A group of the Weeping Paperbark trees by the banks of Sarawak River, opposite the Kuching Waterfront area. Note the tiny white flowers on weeping branches.