Photo: Australian National Botanic Gardens

Interesting Facts about Eucalyptus

·        Around 1872, a mountain ash tree (E. regnans) was felled that measured 132.5 meters tall, rivaling even the North American redwoods. (Photo: Ang Wickham, New Zealand)

·        Some species of Eucalyptus grown in Kenya spring up faster than even the grasses growing in the estuaries.

·        Eucalytpus macrorhyncha, the red stringybark, has leaves that contain the compound rutin, which is used medicinally for strengthening the walls of blood vessels.

·        In several California towns of the late nineteenth century, eucalyptus trees were planted to help fight the spread of malaria.  The trees’ roots absorbed much of the ground water, removing breeding sites for mosquitoes, and their clean aroma helped repel the insects.

·        Eucalyptus wood is just as tough as hickory wood.

·        The lateral roots of a single eucalyptus tree can spread out to one hundred feet.

·        Honey collected from bees that forage on eucalyptus flowers has a distinct (and many say undesirable) peppermint taste.

·        In the late 1800s, eucalyptus leaves were sometimes brewed in hot water, and the liquid was used to clean the inside of boilers.

·        The trees of the Eucalyptus genus (see Classification page) can be divided into six groups based on their bark: peppermints with fibrous bark, stringybarks with stringier fibers, boxes with a rougher bark, bloodwoods with scaly bark, ironwoods with very hard bark, and gums with smooth bark.

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