History
of
Tea
Tree
Oil
In
1770,
Captain
James
Cook
(of
the
British
ship
H.M.S.
Endeavor)
landed
at
Botany
Bay,
Australia
–
near
where
Sydney
is
now.
From
there,
he
traveled
north
through
the
coastal
regions
of
New
South
Wales.
During
this
trek,
he
and
his
crew
noticed
the
massive
groves
of
trees
thick
with
sticky,
aromatic
leaves.
The
local
natives
told
him
about
the
healing
powers
of
these
trees.
The
leaves
of
this
tea
tree
had
been
used
for
many
years,
by
these
people,
to
treat
cuts
and
wounds.
Crushed
leaves
were
applied
directly
to
an
injury,
then
held
in
place
with
a
mud
pack.
This
poultice
helped
fight
infection
in
the
wound.
Australia
was
originally
a
penal
colony
for
the
worst
of
England's
criminals.
As
England
was
so
far
away,
you
can
imagine
how
difficult
it
was
to
get
the
proper
medicines.
Willing
to
help
these
suffering
people,
the
local
natives
(aboriganies)
were
happy
to
show
them
the
uses
for
the
Tea
Tree,
it's
oils
and
it's
leaves.
Later,
other
Europeans
choose
Australia
to
move
to.
Tea
tree's
effects
as
a
medicine
spread
amongst
those
that
settled
Australia
in
the
19th
century.
Eventually
the
scientific
community
realised
there
was
something
to
these
"claims"
so
began
to
research
the
effects
of
the
plant,
especially
the
antimicrobial
properties
of
the
oil.
Little
did
the
early
inhabitants
of
Austrailia
know
that
150
years
later,
Melaleuca
alternifolia
(Tea
Tree)
as
it
was
called
by
Captain
Cook,
would
be
used
as
a
medicinal
treatment
for
cuts,
burns,
bites,
and
a
host
of
skin
ailments.
In
1923,
Dr.
A.R.
Penfold,
curator
and
chemist
at
the
Government
Museum
of
Technology
and
Applied
Sciences
in
Sydney,
Australia,
conducted
a
study
of
the
leaves
of
the
tea
tree.
Dr
Penfold
discovered
their
essential
oils
to
be
thirteen
times
stronger
an
antiseptic
bactericide
than
carbolic
acid,
considered
the
universal
standard
in
the
early
1900s.
Dr
Penfold
noted
that
the
"Tea
Tree"
is
quite
common
in
the
North
Coast
district
of
New
South
Wales.
He
discovered
that
the
oil
from
the
crushed
leaves
yields
an
oil
of
pale
lemon
tint,
with
a
pleasant
terpenic
myristic
odor.
This
is
oil
was
successfully
used
as
a
non-poisonous,
non
irritant
antiseptic
of
unusual
strength.
During
World
War
II,
an
outbreak
of
foot-fungus
became
so
bad
as
to
hospitalize
hundreds
of
Australian
soldiers.
None
of
the
"modern"
ointmints,
lotions
and
medicines
would
work
to
stop
this
fungus.
One
day,
a
medic
who
was
an
aborigine
from
Australia,
remembered
about
the
Tea
Tree
and
got
some
of
the
Oil.
The
doctors
coated
the
effected
soldiers
feet
with
the
pungent
smelling
oil,
and
the
fungus
was
killed
within
a
few
days!
With
modern
farming
methods,
an
updated
extraction
system,
and
the
fact
that
the
Tea
Tree
grows
fast,
there's
plenty
of
this
wonderful
oil
to
export
all
over
the
World.
The
many
uses
for
our
Tea
Tree
Oil
Medical
data
on
our
Tea
Tree
Oil
Back
to
Survival
Enterprises'
Tea
Tree
Oil