ABSTRACT
Before 1980, the tea tree industry was largely an opportunistic cottage industry. Production of oil followed the harvesting and distillation of leaf from natural stands of Melaleuca alternifolia (Cheel) growing on the coastal flood plains of the Richmond and Clarence rivers of northern New South Wales (NSW). Natural populations were sparse and closely interspersed with Eucalyptus, Acacia and Casuarina species. Periodic defoliation by leaf chewing insects was common and pest management was nonexistent.
