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Cajuput (Melaleuca cajuputi)

Dlium Cajuput (Melaleuca cajuputi)

Cajuput (Melaleuca cajuputi) is a tree in Myrtaceae as a medium to upper tree with thin skin and white, long slender green leaves and white flowers. This plant has important uses in agroforestry as a source of cajuput oil.

Cajuput is spread naturally in Indonesia and northern Australia. Indonesians traditionally use leaves to be distilled into essential oils of high economic value. This plant has a long biological cycle, grows fast and grows well in any soil with high salts or acids and is fire resistant.



M. cajupati was divided into three subspecies: Melaleuca cajuputi cajuputi growing in Maluku and Timor islands, Melaleuca cajuputi cumingiana growing in Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan, while Melaleuca cajuputi platyphylla growing in Papua, Aru Islands and Tanimbar Islands.

This tree generally produces cajuput oil with a 1.8-cineol content and high yield. While the other two sub-species have lower levels of cineol. Kayu putih oil from the Maluku Islands has a concentration of 1.8 sineol around 50% - 60% and high yield.

Volatile kayu putih oil where on a hot day people will smell it remotely. Oil is extracted through evaporation mainly from leaves and twigs as an industrial product for balur oil or a mixture of other medicinal oils or a mixture of perfume and other household products.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Subfamily: Myrtoideae
Tribe: Melaleuceae
Genus: Melaleuca L. in Mant. Pl. 1: 14 (1767)
Complex: Melaleuca leucadendra
Species: Melaleuca cajuputi Maton & Sm. ex R.Powell in Pharmacopoeia Roy. Coll. Physicians London: 22 (1809)
Subspecies: Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. cajuputi, Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. cumingiana (Turcz.) Barlow, Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. platyphylla Barlow

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Melaleuca saligna (J.F.Gmel.) Reinw. ex Blume in Mus. Bot. 1: 66 (1850)
Melaleuca trinervis Buch.-Ham. in Mem. Wern. Nat. Hist. Soc. 6: 302 (1832)
Myrtus saligna J.F.Gmel. in Syst. Nat., ed. 13[bis].: 793 (1791)
Pimentus saligna (J.F.Gmel.) Raf. in Sylva Tellur.: 105 (1838)

PUBLICATIONS

Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. Chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Govaerts, R., Sobral, N., Ashton, P., Barrie, F., Holst, B.K., Landrum, L.L., Matsumoto, K., Fernanda Mazine, F., Nic Lughadha, E., Proença, C. & al. (2008). World Checklist of Myrtaceae: 1-455. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (simplified): 桉叶百千层 - 白千层
Chinese (traditional): 桉葉白千層 - 白千層
English: Cajuput, Cajeput, White samet, Swamp tea-tree, Fine leaf melaleuca, Punk tree, White tea tree, White wood
Hindi: कायापुटी Kayaputi
Indonesian: Kayu putih, samet putih
Japanese: カユプテ
Kannada: Kaajapute
Malayalam: Cajeputier
Malaysia: Kayu putih, gelam
Marathi: Kayaputi
Nepali: कायपुटी Kāyapuṭī
Sanskrit: Kayaputi
Sinhala: කයාපුටි Kayāpuṭi
Slovak: Melaleuka menšia
Sunda: Galam
Tamil: காயபுடி Kaayapudi
Thai: เสม็ดขาว

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
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