Kings enjoyed planting pines and junipers; mandarins loved growing Thuja orientalis and Casuarina; intellectuals or other notable figures liked Ficus; and lay people devoted themselves to planting mallow (Malva), Tamarindus indica, and Melaleuca leucadendra.
The name of the area is thought to be derived from the cajeput tree, called "gelam" in Malay.
The actual Malay name of this tree is "gelam", being the namesake of the Kampong Glam district in Singapore.
Melaleuca | Melaleuca leucadendra | Melaleuca quinquenervia | Melaleuca, Western Australia | Melaleuca rhaphiophylla | Melaleuca pulchella | melaleuca | Melaleuca ericifolia |
Cajeput oil is a volatile oil obtained by distillation from the leaves of the myrtaceous tree Melaleuca leucadendra (also called Melaleuca cajeputi), and probably other Melaleuca species.
Among the plants that grow in this park are Avicennia, Dryobalanops and Pandanus species, Alstonia scholaris, Terminalia catappa, Shorea selanica, Octomeles sumatrana, Bruguiera sexangula, Melaleuca leucadendra, Pometia pinnata, Rhizophora acuminata and various species of orchid.
Contrary to popular opinion it is not made from the common Tea tree, Melaleuca alternifolia, but from Melaleuca leucadendra, also known as the Cajeput Tree.