Commemoration of Carl Linnaeus end of his life in 1778, Carl Linnaeus had become one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe, the first civilian in Sweden to be dubbed a knight of the Order of the Polar Star (1753) and ennobled as Carl von Linné (1761). The Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote during Linnaeus' lifetime: "I know no greater man on earth." The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe would later write: "With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, I know no one among the no longer living who has influenced me more strongly." Swedish author August Strindberg wrote: "Linnaeus was in reality
Melaleuca leucadendra leucadendra" was first formally described in 1762 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum as "Myrtus leucadendra". Linnaeus used a description of the species written by Georg Eberhard Rumphius in 1741, before the modern system of classification was devised by Linnaeus. Rumphius had described a plant growing in what is now Indonesia. Later, Linnaeus realised that this species had little in common with other species in the genus "Myrtus" and described the genus "Melaleuca" to accommodate this species. Thus, "Melaleuca leucadendra" became the first melaleuca to be formally described. The description was published in 1767 in "Mantissa plantarum". It follows that