TEA TREE | melaleuca alternifolia

Like Lavender and Peppermint, Tea Tree is one of the most versatile and most researched essential oils. Tea Tree essential oil has been proven in countless studies to be a powerful immune stimulant, effective in fighting all three types of infection: bacterial, viral, and fungal, which makes this a unique and distinct powerhouse in the world of health care, and particularly the genre of essential oils. BACKGROUND There are around 300 different species of Tea Tree - native to Australia. It was used as a general antiseptic by the aborigine tribes for thousands of years. Stories are told of a magical lagoon into which tea tree leaves had fallen, where the local tribe bathed in the naturally created bath. In 1923 an Australian government scientist, Dr. A. R. Penfold, conducted a study of Tea Tree essential oil and discovered it to be 12 times stronger as an antiseptic bactericide than carbolic acid (the current standard). Tea Tree became recognized, according to the British Medical Journal