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Eucalyptus

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Eucalyptus



 
 
Eucalyptus (From Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, e?????pt?? meaning "well covered") is a diverse genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of flowering
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s (and a few shrubs) in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae

The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtus, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here....
. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
. There are more than seven hundred species of Eucalyptus, mostly native to Australia, with a very small number found in adjacent parts of New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
 and one as far north as the Philippines islands
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
. Species of Eucalyptus are cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics including the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, the Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin

The Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub...
, the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 and the Indian Subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
.

Eucalyptus is one of three similar genera
Genera

Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a Fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with Lisp Machines, Inc....
 that are commonly referred to as "eucalypt
Eucalypt

Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the new genus Corymbia....
s," the others being Corymbia
Corymbia

Corymbia is a genus of about 113 species of tree that were classified as Eucalyptus species until the mid-1990s. It includes the bloodwoods, ghost gums, spotted gums amongst others....
 and Angophora
Angophora

Angophora is a genus of ten species of trees or large shrubs in the myrtle family , native to eastern Australia. It is closely related to Corymbia and Eucalyptus, and all three are often referred to as "eucalypts"....
.






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Eucalyptus (From Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, e?????pt?? meaning "well covered") is a diverse genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of flowering
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s (and a few shrubs) in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae

The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtus, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here....
. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
. There are more than seven hundred species of Eucalyptus, mostly native to Australia, with a very small number found in adjacent parts of New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
 and one as far north as the Philippines islands
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
. Species of Eucalyptus are cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics including the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, the Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin

The Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub...
, the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 and the Indian Subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
.

Eucalyptus is one of three similar genera
Genera

Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a Fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with Lisp Machines, Inc....
 that are commonly referred to as "eucalypt
Eucalypt

Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the new genus Corymbia....
s," the others being Corymbia
Corymbia

Corymbia is a genus of about 113 species of tree that were classified as Eucalyptus species until the mid-1990s. It includes the bloodwoods, ghost gums, spotted gums amongst others....
 and Angophora
Angophora

Angophora is a genus of ten species of trees or large shrubs in the myrtle family , native to eastern Australia. It is closely related to Corymbia and Eucalyptus, and all three are often referred to as "eucalypts"....
. Many, but far from all, are known as gum trees in reference to the habit of many species to exude copious sap
Sap

Sap may refer to:* Plant sap, the fluid transported in xylem cells or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant* Baton #Blackjack, another word for a blackjack, an easily concealed Club ....
 from any break in the bark
BARK

BARK was an early Electromechanics. BARK was built using standard phone relays, implementing a 32-bit binary machine and could perform addition in 150 ms and multiplication in 250 ms....
 (e.g. Scribbly Gum
Scribbly gum

Scribbly gum is an Australian eucalypt that is named after the 'scribbles' on its bark. These zigzag tracks are tunnels made by the larvae of the Scribbly Gum Moth and follow the insect's life cycle....
).

Eucalyptus has attracted attention from global development
Development economics

Development economics is a branch of economics which deals with economic aspects of the development process in developing countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic growth and structural change but also on improving the potential for the mass of the population, for example, through health and education and workplace c...
 researchers and environmentalists. Outside of their natural ranges eucalypts are both lauded for its beneficial economic impact on poor populations and derided for being an invasive water-sucker, leading to controversy over its total impact and future. It is a fast-growing source of wood, its oil
Eucalyptus oil

Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from Eucalyptus, a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native to Australia and cultivated worldwide....
 can be used for cleaning and functions as a natural insecticide
Insecticide

An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects in all developmental forms. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the Egg and larvae of insects respectively....
, and it is sometimes used to drain swamp
Swamp

A swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land, by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammock , or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation....
s and thereby reduce malaria
Malaria

Malaria is a Vector -borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in Tropics and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa....
 risk.

Description

Tasmania Logging 08 Mighty Tree

Size and habit

A Eucalyptus may be mature as a low shrub or as a very large tree. There are three main habit and four size categories that species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 can be divided into.

As a generalisation "forest
Forest

File:Stara planina suma.jpgA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on various criteria....
 trees" are single-stemmed and have a crown
Crown (botany)

The crown of a plant refers to the totality of the plant's aboveground parts, including Plant stem, leaves, and Plant morphology. The crown of woody plants is the branches, twigs and leaves extending from the trunk or main stems....
 forming a minor proportion of the whole tree height. "Woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
 trees" are single-stemmed although they may branch at a short distance above ground level.

"Mallees
Mallee (habit)

Mallee is the growth habit of woody plants that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than ten metres....
" are multi-stemmed from ground level, usually less than in height, often with the crown predominantly at the ends of the branchlets and individual plants may combine to form either an open or closed formation. Many mallee trees may be so low growing as to be considered a shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
.

Apart from the forest tree, woodland tree, mallee and shrub habits two further tree forms are notable in Western Australia
Western Australia

Western Australia is a States and territories of Australia occupying the entire western third of the Australia . The nation's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.1 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state....
. One of these is the "mallet
Mallet (habit)

A mallet is a is small-tree form of Eucalyptus found in Western Australia.Unlike the mallee , it is single-stemmed and lacks a lignotuber....
", which is a small to medium-sized tree, usually of steep branching habit, sometimes fluted at the base of the trunk and often with a conspicuously dense, terminal crown. It is the habit usually of mature healthy specimens of Eucalyptus occidentalis, E. astringens, E. spathulata, E. gardneri, E. dielsii, E. forrestiana
Eucalyptus forrestiana

Eucalyptus forrestiana, commonly known as Fuchsia Gum, Forrest's Mallee or Forrest's Marlock , is a small tree which occurs in an area near Esperance, Western Australia in Western Australia....
, E. salubris
Eucalyptus salubris

Eucalyptus salubris, commonly known as Gimlet, Fluted Gum Tree, Gimlet Gum and Silver-topped Gimlet, is a gum tree endemic to low-rainfall areas of the wheatbelt and goldfields regions of Western Australia....
, E. clivicola and E. ornata. The smooth bark
BARK

BARK was an early Electromechanics. BARK was built using standard phone relays, implementing a 32-bit binary machine and could perform addition in 150 ms and multiplication in 250 ms....
 of mallets often has a satiny sheen and may be white, cream, grey, green or copper.

Another habit category used in Western Australia is the "marlock
Marlock

A marlock is a is shrubby or small-tree form of Eucalyptus found in Western Australia.Unlike the mallee , it is single-stemmed and lacks a lignotuber....
". This has been variously applied but Brooker & Hopper (2001) defined the term and restricted the use to describe the more or less pure stands of short, erect, thin-stemmed "trees" that do not produce lignotuber
Lignotuber

A lignotuber is a starchy swelling on underground stems or roots. Jarrah and mallee plants use them as a life support system in case of fire or animal damage....
s. These are easily seen and recognised in stands of E. platypus
Eucalyptus platypus

Eucalyptus platypus, also known as the Moort or Round-leaved Moort, is a small tree which occurs in an area between Albany, Western Australia and Esperance, Western Australia in Western Australia....
, E. vesiculosa and the unrelated E. stoatei. The marlock is distinguished from mallets which are taller and have a characteristic steep branching habit. The origin and use of the term "morrel" is somewhat obscure and appears to apply to trees of the western Australian wheatbelt and goldfields which have a long, straight trunk, completely rough barked. It is now used mainly for E. longicornis (Red Morell) and E. melanoxylon (Black Morrel).

Tree sizes follow the convention
Convention (norm)

A convention is a set of agreement, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norm , norm or criterion, often taking the form of a Custom ....
 of:

  • Small - to 10 metres in height
  • Medium sized - 10 to 30 metres in height
  • Tall - 30 to 60 metres in height
  • Very Tall - over 60 metres in height

Leaves

Nearly all Eucalyptus are evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 but some tropical species lose their leaves at the end of the dry season. As in other members of the Myrtle
Myrtaceae

The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtus, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here....
 family, Eucalyptus leaves are covered with oil glands. The copious oils produced are an important feature of the genus.

The leaves on a mature Eucalyptus plant are commonly lanceolate, petiolate
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
, apparently alternate
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 and waxy or glossy green. In contrast the leaves of seedlings are frequently opposite
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
, sessile
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 and glaucous
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
. However there are numerous exceptions to this pattern. Many species such as E. melanophloia
Eucalyptus melanophloia

Eucalyptus melanophloia, commonly known as Silver-leaved Ironbark, isa species of Eucalyptus which is native to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia....
 and E. setosa retain the juvenile leaf form even when the plant is reproductively mature. Some species such as E. macrocarpa
Eucalyptus macrocarpa

Eucalyptus macocarpa, or Mottlecah, is a Mallee Eucalyptus that is native to the south-west of Western Australia and noted for its large, spectacular flowers....
, E. rhodantha and E. crucis are sought after ornamentals due to this lifelong juvenile leaf form. A few species such as E. petraea, E. dundasii and E. lansdowneana have shiny green leaves throughout their life cycle. E. caesia
Eucalyptus caesia

Eucalyptus caesia, commonly known as Caesia, Gungurru or Silver Princess, is a mallee of the Eucalyptus genus. It is endemic to the central Wheatbelt of Western Australia, where it is found on a small number of Granite outcrops of Western Australia....
 exhibits the opposite pattern of leaf development to most Eucalyptus, with shiny green leaves in the seedling stage and dull, glaucous leaves in mature crowns. The contrast between juvenile and adult leaf phases is valuable in field identification.

Four leaf phases are recognised in the development of a Eucalyptus plant - the ‘seedling’, ‘juvenile’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘adult’ phases. However there is no definite transitional point between the phases. The intermediate phase, when the largest leaves are often formed, links the juvenile and adult phases.

In all except a few species the leaves form in pairs on opposite sides of a square stem, consecutive pairs being at right angles to each other (decussate). In some narrow-leaved species - for example E. oleosa
Eucalyptus oleosa

Eucalyptus oleosa, red mallee, is a native tree of Australia. The leaves are harvested for the production of cineole based eucalyptus oil....
 - the seedling leaves after the second leaf pair are often clustered in a detectable spiral arrangement about a five sided stem. After the spiral phase, which may last from several to many nodes, the arrangement reverts to decussate by the absorption of some of the leaf bearing faces of the stem. In those species with opposite adult foliage the leaf pairs, which have been formed opposite at the stem apex, become separated at their bases by unequal elongation of the stem to produce the apparently alternate adult leaves.

Eucalyptus Leucoxylon1
, showing flowers and fruit capsules]]

Flowers

The most readily recognisable characteristics of
Eucalyptus species are the distinctive flowers and fruit (capsules or "gumnuts"). Flowers have numerous fluffy stamens which may be white, cream, yellow, pink or red; in bud the stamens are enclosed in a cap known as an operculum which is composed of the fused sepals or petals or both. Thus flowers have no petals, decorating themselves instead with the many showy stamens. As the stamens expand the operculum is forced off, splitting away from the cup-like base of the flower; this is one of the features that unites the genus. The name Eucalyptus, from the Greek words eu-, well, and kaluptos, cover, meaning "well-covered", describes the operculum. The woody fruits or capsules, are roughly cone-shaped and have valves at the end which open to release the seeds. Most species do not flower until adult foliage starts to appear; Eucalyptus cinerea
Eucalyptus cinerea

Eucalyptus cinerea, Argyle apple or Mealy Stringybark, is a small to medium sized tree with rough bark, persistent on the trunk and larger branches, thick, fibrous, longitudinally furrowed, reddish-brown to grey-brown....
and Eucalyptus perriniana
Eucalyptus perriniana

Eucalyptus perriniana, commonly known as Spinning Gum, is a tree or mallee which is native to New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in Australia....
are notable exceptions.

Bark

The appearance of
Eucalyptus bark will vary with the age of the plant, the manner of bark shed, the length of the bark fibres, the degree of furrowing, the thickness, the hardness and the colour. All mature eucalypts put on an annual layer of bark, which contributes to the increasing diameter of the stems. In some species the outermost layer dies and is annually deciduous either in long strips (as in Eucalyptus sheathiana) or in variably sized flakes (E. diversicolor, E. cosmophylla or E. cladocalyx
Eucalyptus cladocalyx

The Sugar Gum is a Eucalyptus from South Australia. It is found naturally in three distinct populations - in the Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula and on Kangaroo Island....
). These are the gums or smooth-barked species. The gum bark may be dull, shiny or satiny (as in E. ornata) or matte (E. cosmophylla). In many species the dead bark is retained. Its outermost layer gradually fragments with weathering and sheds without altering the essentially rough barked nature of the trunks or stems - for example E. marginata, E. jacksonii
Eucalyptus jacksonii

The Red Tingle of south west Western Australia is one of the tallest trees in the state and can measure up to 16 metres round at the base and grow to a height of 60 metres and live for up to 400 years....
, E. obliqua
Eucalyptus obliqua

Eucalyptus obliqua, commonly known as Australian Oak, Brown Top, Brown Top Stringbark, Messmate, Messmate Stringybark, Stringybark and Tasmanian Oak, is an hardwood tree native to south-eastern Australia....
and E. porosa.

Many species are ‘half-barks’ or ‘blackbutts’ in which the dead bark is retained in the lower half of the trunks or stems - for example,
E. brachycalyx, E. ochrophloia and E. occidentalis - or only in a thick, black accumulation at the base, as in E. clelandii. Some species in this category - for example - E. youngiana
Eucalyptus youngiana

Eucalyptus youngiana, commonly known as Large-fruited Mallee, Ooldea Mallee and Yarldarlba, is a tree that occurs in arid and semi-arid areas of southern Western Australia and South Australia....
and E. viminalis - the rough basal bark is very ribbony at the top, where it gives way to the smooth upper stems. The smooth upper bark of the half barks and that of the completely smooth-barked trees and mallees can produce remarkable colour and interest, for example E. deglupta
Eucalyptus deglupta

Eucalyptus deglupta is a tall tree, commonly known as the Rainbow Eucalyptus, the Mindanao Gum, or the Rainbow Gum. It is the only Eucalyptus species found naturally in the Northern Hemisphere....
.

Eucalyptus Bark

Bark characteristics
  • Stringybark
    Stringybark

    A stringybark can be any of the many Eucalyptus species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the Myrtaceae family....
     - consists of long-fibres and can be pulled off in long pieces. It is usually thick with a spongy texture.
  • Ironbark
    Ironbark

    Ironbark is a common name of a number of species in the genus Eucalyptus with dark deeply furrowed bark. Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of Eucalyptus, the dead bark accumulates on the trees forming the fissures....
     - is hard, rough and deeply furrowed. It is impregnated with dried kino
    Kino (plant)

    Kino is the name of the plant gum produced from various plants and trees, obtained by incisions made in the trunk or stalk. Kinos are used in medicine and tanning, with astringent tannin compounds being a major active component....
     (a sap exuded by the tree) which gives a dark red or even black colour.
  • Tessellated - bark is broken up into many distinct flakes. They are corkish
    Cork (material)

    Cork material is a prime-subset of generic Cork cambium, harvested for commercial use primarily from the Cork Oak tree, Quercus suber, with Portugal producing 50% of cork worldwide....
     and can flake off.
  • Box - has short fibres. Some also show tessellation.
  • Ribbon - this has the bark coming off in long thin pieces but still loosely attached in some places. They can be long ribbons, firmer strips or twisted curls.


Species and hybridism

There are over 700 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of
Eucalyptus; refer to the List of Eucalyptus species
List of Eucalyptus species

This is a list of 746 Eucalyptus species and 3 Hybrid ....
 for a comprehensive list of species. Some have diverged
Divergent evolution

Divergent evolution is the accumulation of differences between groups which can lead to the formation of new species, usually a result of diffusion of the same species adapting to different environments, leading to natural selection defining the success of specific mutations....
 from the mainstream of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 to the extent that they are quite isolated genetically
Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and Genetic variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding....
 and are able to be recognised by only a few relatively invariant characteristics. Most, however, may be regarded as belonging to large or small groups of related species, which are often in geographical contact with each other and between which gene
Gene

A gene is the basic unit of heredity in a living organism. All living things depend on genes. Genes hold the information to build and maintain their cell and pass genetic trait to offspring....
 exchange still occurs. In these situations many species will appear to grade into one another and intermediate forms are common. In other words, some species are relatively fixed genetically, as expressed in their morphology
Morphology (biology)

The term morphology in biology refers to form, structure and configuration of an organism. This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs....
, while others have not diverged completely from their nearest relatives.

Hybrid individuals have not always been recognised as such on first collection and some have been named as new species, such as
E. chrysantha (E. preissiana × E. sepulcralis) and E. "rivalis" (E. marginata × E. megacarpa). Hybrid combinations are not particularly common in the field, but some other published species have been suggested to be hybrid combinations and are frequently seen in Australia. For example, E. erythrandra is believed to be E. angulosa × E. teraptera and due to its wide distribution it is often referred to in texts.

Related genera

A small genus of similar trees,
Angophora
Angophora

Angophora is a genus of ten species of trees or large shrubs in the myrtle family , native to eastern Australia. It is closely related to Corymbia and Eucalyptus, and all three are often referred to as "eucalypts"....
, has also been known since the 18th century. In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the new genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 
Corymbia
Corymbia

Corymbia is a genus of about 113 species of tree that were classified as Eucalyptus species until the mid-1990s. It includes the bloodwoods, ghost gums, spotted gums amongst others....
. Although separate, the three groups are allied and it remains acceptable to refer to the members of all three genera Angophora, Corymbia and Eucalyptus as "eucalypts".
Tasmania Logging 16 Styx A Tree in Danger

Tall timber

Several eucalypts are among the tallest trees in the world.
Eucalyptus regnans
Eucalyptus regnans

Eucalyptus regnans, known variously by the common names Mountain Ash, Victorian Ash, Swamp Gum, Tasmanian Oak or Stringy Gum, is a species of Eucalyptus native to southeastern Australia, in Tasmania and Victoria ....
, the Australian Mountain Ash, is the tallest of all flowering plants (Angiosperms); today, the tallest measured specimen is 99.6 metres tall. Only Coast Redwood is taller and Coast Douglas-fir
Coast Douglas-fir

The Coast Douglas-fir , a Variety of Douglas-fir, is an evergreen conifer native to the coastal regions of western North America, from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward to central California, United States....
 about the same; they are conifers (Gymnosperm
Gymnosperm

Gymnosperm is a group of spermatophyte seed-bearing plants with ovules on scales, which are usually arranged in cone-like structures. The other major group of seed-bearing plants, the angiosperms, [from the Greek, 'angion' - container] have ovules enclosed in a carpel, a sporophyll with fused margins....
). Six other eucalypt species exceed 80 metres in height:
Eucalyptus obliqua
Eucalyptus obliqua

Eucalyptus obliqua, commonly known as Australian Oak, Brown Top, Brown Top Stringbark, Messmate, Messmate Stringybark, Stringybark and Tasmanian Oak, is an hardwood tree native to south-eastern Australia....
, Eucalyptus delegatensis
Eucalyptus delegatensis

Eucalyptus delegatensis, commonly known as Alpine Ash or Gum-topped stringybark or White-top, is a sub-alpine or temperate tree of southeastern Australia....
, Eucalyptus diversicolor, Eucalyptus nitens
Eucalyptus nitens

Eucalyptus nitens, commonly known as Shining Gum, is an Eucalypt species native to Victoria and eastern New South Wales, Australia. It grows in wet forests and rainforest margins on fertile soils in cool high-rainfall areas....
, Eucalyptus globulus
Eucalyptus globulus

The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia....
and Eucalyptus viminalis.

Tolerance

Most eucalypts are not tolerant of frost, or only tolerate light frosts down to -3 °C to -5 °C; the hardiest, are the so-called Snow Gums such as
Eucalyptus pauciflora
Eucalyptus pauciflora

The Snow Gum is a small tree or large shrub, one of the Mallee group of the genus Eucalyptus....
which is capable of withstanding cold and frost down to about -20 °C. Two sub-species, E. pauciflora subsp. niphophila and E. pauciflora subsp. debeuzevillei in particular are even hardier and can tolerate even quite severe winters. Several other species, especially from the high plateau and mountains of central Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
 such as
Eucalyptus coccifera
Eucalyptus coccifera

Eucalyptus coccifera, the Tasmanian snow gum or the Mount Wellington Peppermint, is a native tree of Tasmania .It grows as a shrub on margins of the alpine Central Highlands ....
, Eucalyptus subcrenulata, and Eucalyptus gunnii, have produced extreme cold hardy forms and it is seed procured from these genetically
Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and Genetic variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding....
 hardy strains that are planted for ornament in colder parts of the world.

Animal relationships

Koala Ag1
An essential oil
Essential oil

An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove....
 extracted from
Eucalyptus leaves contains compounds that are powerful natural disinfectants and which can be toxic in large quantities. Several marsupial herbivores, notably koala
Koala

The Koala is a wikt:thickset arboreal marsupial herbivory native to Australia, and the only Extant taxon representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
s and some possum
Possum

A possum is any of about 64 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi . The name derives from their resemblance to the opossums of the Americas....
s, are relatively tolerant of it. The close correlation of these oils with other more potent toxins called formylated phloroglucinol
Phloroglucinol

Phloroglucinol is the organic compound that is used in the organic synthesis. This molecule exists in two forms, or tautomers, 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene, which has phenol-like, and 1,3,5--cyclohexanetrione, which has ketone-like character....
 compounds allows koalas and other marsupial
Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
 species to make food choices based on the smell of the leaves. However, it is the formylated phloroglucinol compounds that are the most important factor in choice of leaves by koalas.
Eucalyptus flowers produce a great abundance of nectar, providing food for many pollinator
Pollinator

A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female carpel of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain....
s including insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s, birds, bats and possum
Possum

A possum is any of about 64 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi . The name derives from their resemblance to the opossums of the Americas....
s. Despite the fact that
Eucalyptus trees are seemingly well-defended from herbivores by the oils and phenolic compounds they do have their share of insect pests, such as the Eucalyptus Longhorn Borer
Longhorn beetle

The longhorn beetles are a cosmopolitan family of beetles, typically characterized by extremely long Antenna , which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body....
 Beetle
Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
,
Phoracantha semipunctuata, or the aphid-like psyllids known as "bell lerps
Bell Miner

The Bell Miner, Manorina melanophrys, colloquially known as the Bellbird, is a colonial honeyeater endemic to southeastern Australia. They were given their common name because they feed almost exclusively on the dome-like coverings of certain psyllid bugs, referred to as "bell lerps," that feed on eucalyptus sap from the leaves....
," both of which have become established as pests throughout the world wherever eucalypts are cultivated.

Fire

On warm days vapourised
Eucalyptus oil rises above the bush
The Bush

The bush is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in many places, such as Australia, New Zealand, Sub-Saharan Africa, Canada, and Alaska....
 to create the characteristic distant blue haze of the Australian landscape.
Eucalyptus oil is highly flammable (trees have been known to explode) and bush fires can travel easily through the oil-rich air of the tree crowns. The dead bark and fallen branches are also flammable. Eucalypts are well adapted for periodic fires via lignotuber
Lignotuber

A lignotuber is a starchy swelling on underground stems or roots. Jarrah and mallee plants use them as a life support system in case of fire or animal damage....
s and epicormic buds under the bark.
Eucalyptus Forest2
Eucalypts originated between 35 and 50 million years ago, not long after Australia-New Guinea separated from Gondwana
Gondwana

Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland is the name given to a southern precursor-supercontinent and then as a remnant separated from Laurasia 180- during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent that existed about 500 to 200 Annum ago into two large segments.
, their rise coinciding with an increase in fossil charcoal deposits (suggesting that fire was a factor even then), but they remained a minor component of the Tertiary rainforest until about 20 million years ago when the gradual drying of the continent and depletion of soil nutrients led to the development of a more open forest type, predominantly
Casuarina
Casuarina

Casuarina is a genus of 17 species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australasia, southeastern Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean....
and Acacia
Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Sweden botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773....
species. With the arrival of the first humans about 50 thousand years ago fires became much more frequent and the fire-loving eucalypts soon came to account for roughly 70% of Australian forest.

The two valuable timber trees, Alpine Ash
E. delegatensis
Eucalyptus delegatensis

Eucalyptus delegatensis, commonly known as Alpine Ash or Gum-topped stringybark or White-top, is a sub-alpine or temperate tree of southeastern Australia....
and Mountain Ash E. regnans
Eucalyptus regnans

Eucalyptus regnans, known variously by the common names Mountain Ash, Victorian Ash, Swamp Gum, Tasmanian Oak or Stringy Gum, is a species of Eucalyptus native to southeastern Australia, in Tasmania and Victoria ....
, are killed by fire and only regenerate from seed. The same 2003 bushfire that had little impact on forests around Canberra
Canberra

Canberra is the List of Australian capital cities of Australia. With a population of over 340,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall....
 resulted in thousands of hectares of dead ash forests. However, a small amount of ash survived and put out new suckers as well. There has been some debate as to whether to leave the stands, or attempt to harvest the mostly undamaged timber, which is increasingly recognised as a damaging practice.

Cultivation, uses, and environmental cost-benefits


Eucalypts have many uses which have made them economically important trees, and have become a cash crop in poor areas such as Timbuktu
Timbuktu

Timbuktu is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African nation of Mali. It was made prosperous by Mansa Musa, tenth mansa of the Mali Empire....
, Africa and the Peruvian Andes, despite concerns that the trees are invasive in some countries like South Africa. Perhaps the Karri
Karri

Karri is a Eucalyptus which is native to the wetter regions of Southwest Australia of Western Australia....
 and the Yellow box
Eucalyptus melliodora

Eucalyptus melliodora, commonly known as Yellow Box, is a medium sized to occasionally tall eucalyptus. The bark is variable ranging from smooth with an irregular, short stocking, to covering most of the trunk, fibrous, dense or loosely held, grey, yellow or red-brown, occasionally very coarse, thick, dark brown to black; shedding f...
 varieties are the best known. Due to their fast growth the foremost benefit of these trees is the wood. They can be chopped off at the root and grow back again. They provide many desirable characteristics for use as ornament, timber, firewood and pulpwood
Pulpwood

Pulpwood refers to timber grown with the principal purpose of making wood pulp for paper production. However, pulpwood is also used as the raw material for some wood products, such as oriented strand board , and there is an increasing demand for pulpwood as a source of 'green energy' by the bio-energy sector....
. Fast growth also makes eucalypts suitable as windbreak
Windbreak

A windbreak or shelterbelt is a plantation usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion....
s, and when planted they reduce erosion.

Eucalypts draw a tremendous amount of water from the soil through the process of transpiration
Transpiration

Transpiration is the evaporation of water from the aerial parts of plants, especially leaf but also Plant stems, flowers and roots. Leaf surfaces are dotted with openings called stoma that are bordered by guard cells....
. They have been planted (or re-planted) in some places to lower the water table
Water table

The water table is the level at which the ground water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the Groundwater in a given vicinity....
 and reduce soil salination
Soil salination

Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil.Salt affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts, typically most pronounced at the soil surface....
. Eucalypts have also been used as a way of reducing malaria
Malaria

Malaria is a Vector -borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in Tropics and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa....
 by draining the soil in Algeria, Sicily, elsewhere in Europe, and California. Drainage removes swamps which provide a habitat for mosquito
Mosquito

Mosquitoes are common flying insects in the family Culicidae that are found around the world. There are about 3,500 species. They have a pair of scaled wings, a pair of halteres, a slender body, and six long legs....
 larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e, but such drainage can also destroy ecologically productive areas. This drainage is limited to the soil surface only since the eucalyptus roots have up to 2.5m length, not reaching the phreatic zone
Phreatic zone

The phreatic zone , or zone of saturation, is the area in an aquifer, below the water table, in which relatively all pores and fractures are saturated with water....
, meaning that rain or irrigation can wet the soil again.

Eucalyptus oil
Eucalyptus oil

Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from Eucalyptus, a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native to Australia and cultivated worldwide....
 is readily steam distilled
Steam distillation

Steam distillation is a special type of distillation for temperature sensitive materials like natural aromaticity compounds.Many organic compounds tend to Chemical decomposition at high sustained temperatures....
 from the leaves and can be used for cleaning, deodorising, and in very small quantities in food
Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
 supplements; especially sweets
SweetS

is a Japanese idol group. Put together through auditions, the group debuted in 2003 on the avex trax Record label. Although the group met minor success, they disbanded after three years with the release of a final single in June 2006....
, cough drops and decongestants.
Eucalyptus oil has insect repellent properties (Jahn 1991 a, b; 1992), and is an active ingredient in some commercial mosquito repellents (Fradin & Day 2002).

The nectar
Nectar (plant)

Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants. It is produced either by the flowers, in which it attracts pollination animals or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualism providing plant defense against herbivory....
 of some eucalypts produces high quality monofloral honey
Monofloral honey

Monofloral honey is a type of honey which has a high value in the marketplace because it has a distinctive flavor or other attribute due to its being predominantly from the nectar of one plant species....
. Eucalypt wood is also commonly used to make digeridoos, a traditional Australian Aboriginal wind instrument.

All parts of the eucalypt may be used to make plant dyes that are substantive on protein fibres such as (silk
Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from Pupa#Cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ....
 and wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
) simply by processing the plant part with water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
. Colours to be achieved range from yellow and orange through green, tan, chocolate and deep rust red. The material remaining after processing can be safely used as mulch or fertilisers.

Plantation and ecological problems

Eucalyptus was first introduced from Southeast Asia to the rest of the world by Sir Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks

Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, Order of the Bath, President of the Royal Society was an England Natural history, Botany and patron of the natural sciences....
, botanist, on the Cook
James Cook

Captain James Cook Royal Society Royal Navy was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy....
 expedition in 1770. They have subsequently been introduced to many parts of the world, notably California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
, Ecuador
Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the , literally, "Republic of the equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west....
, Colombia
Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....
, Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
, Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
, South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, Uganda
Uganda

The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania....
, Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
, Galicia and Chile
Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
. In Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 they have been planted in pulpwood plantation
Plantation

A plantation is usually a large farm or Estate , especially in a tropical or semitropical country, like Brazil or Nicaragua on which cotton, tobacco, lice coffee, sugar cane and the like are cultivated, usually by resident laborers....
s.
Eucalyptus are the basis for several industries, such as sawmilling, pulp, charcoal and others. Several species have become invasive
Invasive species

Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically....
 and are causing major problems for local ecosystems, mainly due to the absence of wildlife corridors and rotations management.

Owing to similar favorable climatic conditions,
Eucalyptus plantations often replace oak
Oak

The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus , which are listed in the List of Quercus species, and some related genera, notably Lithocarpus....
 woodlands, the latter a favorable habitat for various wildlife due to an abundance of acorn
Acorn

The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oak tree . It is a nut , containing a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule....
s for food for mammals and birds, and the presence of various insects feeding on dead and down oaks (in turn food for other life forms), and the usefulness of hollows in living oaks and down trees as shelter and nesting sites for birds and small mammals and for bee colonies. All of these favorable conditions disappear when an oak woodland is replaced with a eucalyptus plantation.

Oak woodlands in seasonally dry climates are often fire resistant, particularly if present in open grasslands, as a grass fire is insufficient to ignite the scattered trees. Such is not the case with a eucalyptus forest which tends to grow more densely, obtaining its long-term fire survivability from its ability to regenerate from residual root stock after a fire. Because of the bark litter both on living trees and on the forest floor and because flammable oils in eucalyptus leaves are released by the heat of a fire a dense planting is subject to catastrophic firestorms, unlike oak grasslands .

North America

California. In the 1850s
Eucalyptus trees were introduced to California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
 by Australians travelling to California during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California, California....
. Much of California has a similar climate to parts of Australia. By the early 1900s thousands of acres of eucalypts were planted with the encouragement of the state government. It was hoped that they would provide a renewable source of timber for construction and furniture making.
They went on to note that the promise of eucalyptus in California was based on the old virgin forests of Australia. This was a mistake as the young trees being harvested in California could not compare in quality to the centuries-old eucalyptus timber of Australia. It reacted differently to harvest. The older trees didn't split or warp as the infant California crop did. There was a vast difference between the two, and this would doom the California eucalyptus industry.


One way in which the eucalyptus, mainly the blue gum
E. globulus
Eucalyptus globulus

The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia....
, proved valuable in California was in providing windbreaks for highways, orange groves, and other farms in the mostly treeless central part of the state. They are also admired as shade and ornamental trees in many cities and gardens.

Eucalyptus forests in California have been criticised because they compete with native plants and do not support native animals. Fire is also a problem. The 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm which destroyed almost 3,000 homes and killed 25 people was partly fueled by large numbers of eucalypts in the area close to the houses.

In some parts of California eucalypt forests are being removed and native trees and plants restored. Individuals have also illegally destroyed some trees and are suspected of introducing insect pests from Australia which attack the trees.

South America

Uruguay. Antonio Lussich
Antonio Lussich

Antonio Dionisio Lussich was an Uruguayan sailor, Botany and writer....
 introduced
Eucalyptus into Uruguay
Uruguay

Uruguay is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people, of whom 1.7 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area....
 in 1896 approximately, all over on what now is Maldonado Department
Maldonado Department

The Maldonado Department , with an area of 4,793 km? and 140,192 inhabitants, is located to the southeast of Uruguay. Its capital is Maldonado, Uruguay....
, and it extended all over the South-eastern and eastern coast, with no further problems or harm to the local trees, since all that area was a dry land of sand dunes and stones, because of this before they were introduced there were no trees at all. (He also introduced various species of Acacia
Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Sweden botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773....
 and Pine
Pine

Pines are Pinophyta trees in the genus Pinus, in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species....
s, and many other although they have not expanded so massively.)

Brazil. In 1910
Eucalyptus was introduced to Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
 for timber
Timber

Timber may refer to:* Lumber, i.e. wood materials* Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Oregon* Timber , a 1984 arcade game by Bally Midway...
 substitution and the charcoal
Charcoal

Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances....
 industry. It has thrived very well in the local environmental conditions and today there are around 5 million hectares planted. The wood produced by the tree is highly appreciated by the charcoal and pulp and paper industries. The short rotation allows a larger wood production and supply wood for several other activities, helping to preserve the native forests from logging. When well managed the plantations are sustainable and the soil can sustain endless replantations . Eucalyptus plantations are also used as wind breaks
Windbreak

A windbreak or shelterbelt is a plantation usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion....
. Brazil has world record rates of growth typically producing over 40 cubic meters per hectare per year with commercial harvesting operation taking place after years 5. Due to the continual development and governmental funding of this valuable crop, year on year growth is consistently being improved.
Eucalyptus can produce up to 100 cubic meters per hectare per year when utilising the right clones. Brazil has grown to become the number one exporter and producer of Eucalyptus roundwood and pulp and has played an important role in developing the Australian market through the countries committed research to this area. Timber from Eucalyptus has a wide range of uses, and it is considered the world’s top quality pulping species due to its high fiber yields it is also used in a number of industries from fence posts and charcoal to cellulose extraction for biofuels. The local iron producers in Brazil rely heavily on sustainable grown Eucalyptus for charcoal this has in turn pushed up the price of charcoal heavily in recent years. The plantations are generally owned and operated by a number of timber asset companies such as Greenwood Management as well as cellulose producers such as Aracruz Cellulose and Stora Enso
Stora Enso

Stora Enso Oyj is a Finland–Sweden pulp and paper industry, formed by the merger of Swedish mining and forestry products company Stora Kopparbergs bergslag and Finnish forestry products company Enso-Gutzeit Oy in 1998....
 and this in turn feeds the global and local industries. In the 1990’s exports from Brazil totaled approximately $1 billion, and by 2005 Brazil's exports had reached $3.5 billion. This trade surplus has in turn drawn large amounts of foreign investments into the agricultural sector. The European Investment Bank and the World Bank have given full public support for foreign investment in Brazil’s pulp and paper industry and Cellulose processing plants. Private industry in Brazil has invested $12 billion so far in pulp and paper since 1993. And has recently pledged to invest an extra $14 billion within the sector over the next decade. Overall South America is expected to produce 55% of the worlds Eucalyptus round-wood by 2010.

Africa

Ethiopia.
Eucalyptus was introduced to Ethiopia
Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....
 in either 1894 or 1895, either by Emperor Menelik II's French advisor Mondon-Vidailhet or the Englishman Captain O'Brian. Due to massive deforestation around his new capital city Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia and the African Union and its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity. It is also the largest city in Ethiopia....
 caused by a growing appetite for fire wood, Emperor Menelik II endorsed its planting around that city; according to Richard R.K. Pankhurst, "The great advantage of the eucalypts was that they were fast growing, required little attention and when cut down grew up again from the roots; it could be harvested every ten years. The tree proved successful from the onset". Plantations of eucalypts spread from the capital to other growing urban centers such as Debre Marqos
Debre Marqos

Debre Marqos is a city and woreda in east-central Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of , and an elevation of 2446 meters....
; Pankhurst reports that the most common species found in Addis Ababa in the mid-1960s was
E. globulus
Eucalyptus globulus

The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia....
, although he also found E. melliodora
Eucalyptus melliodora

Eucalyptus melliodora, commonly known as Yellow Box, is a medium sized to occasionally tall eucalyptus. The bark is variable ranging from smooth with an irregular, short stocking, to covering most of the trunk, fibrous, dense or loosely held, grey, yellow or red-brown, occasionally very coarse, thick, dark brown to black; shedding f...
and E. rostrata in significant numbers. David Buxton, writing of central Ethiopia in the mid-1940s, observed that eucalyptus trees "have become an integral -- and a pleasing -- element in the Shoan
Shewa

Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia. Formerly an autonomous monarchy within the Ethiopian Empire, the Ethiopian modern capital Addis Ababa is located at its center....
 landscape and has largely displaced the slow-growing native 'cedar' or juniper."

It was commonly believed that the thirst of the
Eucalyptus "tended to dry up rivers and wells", creating such opposition to the species that in 1913 a proclamation was issued ordering a partial destruction of all standing trees, and their replacement with mulberry
Mulberry

Morus or Mulberry is a genus of 10?16 species of deciduous trees native to warm, temperate, and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, with the majority of the species native to Asia....
 trees. "The proclamation," Pankhurst notes, "however remained a dead letter; there is no evidence of eucalypts being uprooted, still less of mulberry trees being planted." The eucalypt remains a defining feature of Addis Ababa.

Madagascar. Much of Madagascar's original native forest has been replaced with
Eucalyptus, threatening biodiversity by isolating remaining natural areas such as Andasibe-Mantadia National Park
Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is a 155 square kilometre protected area consisting principally of primary forest in Toamasina Province in eastern Madagascar....
.

South Africa. Numerous
Eucalyptus species have been introduced into South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, mainly for timber
Timber

Timber may refer to:* Lumber, i.e. wood materials* Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Oregon* Timber , a 1984 arcade game by Bally Midway...
 and firewood
Firewood

Firewood is any wood material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form....
 but also for ornamental purposes. They are popular with beekeeper
Beekeeper

A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees for the purposes of securing commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen; pollination fruits and vegetables; raising Queen and bees for sale to other farmers; and/or for purposes satisfying natural scientific curiosity....
s for the honey
Honey

Honey is a sweet fluid produced by honey bees , and derived from the nectar of flowers. According to the United States National Honey Board and various international food regulations, "honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance?this includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners...
 they provide. In South Africa they are viewed as invasive, with their water-sucking capabilities threatening water supplies. They release a chemical into the surrounding soil which kills native competitors.

Eucalyptus seedling
Seedling

A seedling is a young plant sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed....
s are usually unable to compete with the indigenous grass
Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
es, but after a fire when the grass cover has been removed, a seed-bed may be created. The following
Eucalyptus species have been able to become naturalised in South Africa: E. camaldulensis, E. cladocalyx
Eucalyptus cladocalyx

The Sugar Gum is a Eucalyptus from South Australia. It is found naturally in three distinct populations - in the Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula and on Kangaroo Island....
, E. diversicolor, E. grandis
Eucalyptus grandis

Eucalyptus grandis, Flooded gum, Rose gum, is a tall tree with smooth bark, rough at the base fibrous or flaky, grey to grey-brown. At maturity, it is often 40 metres tall, though the largest specimens can exceed 80 metres tall....
and E. lehmannii.

Zimbabwe. Like into South Africa, many
Eucalyptus species have been introduced into Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
 mainly for timber
Timber

Timber may refer to:* Lumber, i.e. wood materials* Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Oregon* Timber , a 1984 arcade game by Bally Midway...
 and firewood
Firewood

Firewood is any wood material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form....
, and
E. robusta
Eucalyptus robusta

Eucalyptus robusta, commonly known as Swamp Mahogany, Swamp Messmate or Swamp Stringybark, is a tree native to eastern Australia....
and E. tereticornis
Eucalyptus tereticornis

Eucalyptus tereticornis is a species of tree native to eastern Australia.It has a great many common names, of which Forest Red Gum is perhaps the most widely known....
have been recorded as having become naturalized there.

Europe

Spain. In Galicia numerous oak forests have been replaced with eucalypts, which are farmed for pulpwood, with severe effects upon wildlife.

History

Although eucalypts must have been seen by the very early European explorers and collectors, no botanical collections of them are known to have been made until 1770 when Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks

Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, Order of the Bath, President of the Royal Society was an England Natural history, Botany and patron of the natural sciences....
 and Daniel Solander
Daniel Solander

Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander was a Sweden botanist.Solander was born in Pite?, Norrland, Sweden and was the son of a Lutheran principal....
 arrived at Botany Bay
Botany Bay

Botany Bay is a Headlands and bays in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay....
 with Captain James Cook. There they collected specimens of
E. gummifera and later, near the Endeavour River
Endeavour River

The Endeavour River on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia, was named in 1770 by Lt. James Cook, R.N., after he was forced to beach his ship HM Bark Endeavour, after damaging it on a reef, for repairs in the river mouth....
 in northern
Queensland, they collected E. platyphylla; neither of these species was named as such at the time.

In 1777, on Cook's third expedition, David Nelson collected a eucalypt on Bruny Island in southern Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
. This specimen was taken to the British Museum
British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than 7 million Object , are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, and it was named
Eucalyptus obliqua by the French botanist L'Héritier
Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle

Charles Louis L'H?ritier de Brutelle was an 18th century France botanist and magistrate. Born into an affluent upper-class Parisian family, connections with the French Royal Court secured him the position of Superindent of Parisian Waters and Forests at the age of twenty-six....
, who was working in London at the time. He coined the generic name from the Greek roots
eu and calyptos, meaning "well" and "covered" in reference to the operculum
Operculum (botany)

In botany, operculum may be used to describe any of the following:*A flap of the Sporangium of a Moss, covering the peristome .*The cap of the Ascus in certain Ascomycota fungi....
 of the flower bud. This organ protects the developing flower parts as the flower develops and is shed by the pressure of the emerging stamens at flowering.

The name
obliqua was derived from the Latin obliquus, meaning "oblique" which is the botanical
Botany

Botany, plant science, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of biology and is the Scientific method of plant life and development....
 term describing a leaf
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 base where the two sides of the leaf blade are of unequal length and do not meet the petiole at the same place.

In naming
E. obliqua, L'Héritier caused to be perpetuated, most likely by accident, a feature common to all eucalypts - the operculum. In his choice of a specific name, he recognised not only the characteristic feature of E. obliqua, but one common to many other species as well. E. obliqua was published in 1788-89 and coincides with the date of the first official European settlement of Australia.

Between 1788-89 and the turn of the nineteenth century several more species of
Eucalyptus were named and published. Most of these were by the English botanist James Edward Smith
James Edward Smith

Sir James Edward Smith was an England botany and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant....
 and most were, as might be expected, trees of the Sydney
Sydney

Sydney is the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million . It is the List of Australian capital cities of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British Empire colony in Australia....
 region. These include the economically valuable
E. pilularis, E. saligna and E. tereticornis.

The nineteenth century saw the endeavours of several of the great botanists in Australian history, particularly Ferdinand von Mueller
Ferdinand von Mueller

Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist....
, whose work on eucalypts contributed greatly to the first comprehensive account of the genus in George Bentham
George Bentham

George Bentham CMG, FRS was an England botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century"....
's
Flora Australiensis in 1867 - which today remains the only complete Australian flora. The account in Bentham is the most important early systematic treatment of the genus. Bentham divided the genus into five series whose distinctions were based on characteristics of the stamens, particularly the anthers (Mueller, 1879-84), elborated further by Joseph Henry Maiden (1903-33), and taken even further by William Faris Blakely (1934). By this time the anther system had become too complex to be workable and more recent systematic work has concentrated on the characteristics of buds, fruits, leaves and bark.

The first endemic Western Australian
Eucalyptus to be collected and subsequently named was the yate (E. cornuta) by the French botanist La Billardiére, who collected in what is now the Esperance
Esperance, Western Australia

Esperance is a town in Western Australia, located on the south coast around half-way between Albany, Western Australia and the South Australian border; 7 hours drive and 1 hour flight from the capital, Perth, Western Australia....
 area in 1792.

See also



Photo gallery


External links

  • , CSIRO
  • by (2005-current)
  • Diagnostic photos: tree, leaves, bark
  • Duke, James A. 1983.
  • Santos, Robert. 1997 Denair, CA : Alley-Cass Publications
  • a paper for the Monocultures: Environmental and Social Effects and Sustainable Alternatives Conference, June 2-6 1996, Songkhla, Thailand, prepared by Areerat Kittisiri, Rural Reconstruction and Friends Association (RRAFA), Bangkok, Thailand
  • Iglesias Trabado, Gustavo (2007-current)
  • Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus essential oil information from The American Botanical Council


Medicinal resources, eucalyptus essential oil