The Gum Tree!

Call me a tree-hugging hippie if you must, but I would like to take an evening (because we're a classy "evening" kind of show here, right folks?) to talk about one of my favorite trees, the Eucalyptus.

Majesty.

Now I know what your thinking. You don't want to hear about no stinkin' tree. I led you on with two whole posts of nothing but flashy little parrots, and now I want to talk about a tree?!

Hang on, now, listen. This isn't any old tree. This tree is California Redwood kinds of awesome.

Maybe not so...massively awesome.

My love affair with the eucalyptus actually began as early as grade school, around the time moving to Australia was something you did after a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

I hope your childhood had this

The playground had a row of eucalyptus trees along the back fence, and I loved to pick up the leaves, scrunch them up, and inhale their fragrance. In hindsight, I'm sure I subconsciously knew they were soothing to my chronic allergies, but at the time, I just liked their smell. It was also fun to pick the peeling bark off.

Yah...I swear, I was not as weird and creepy of a child as that makes me sound. I PROMISE.

Anyway, now, I'm surrounded by Eucalyptus. The Eucalyptus Tree is an Australian icon. You can't know Australia without knowing the Eucalyptus. If you think you've gotten away with it, you are wrong.  There are 700-800 species of eucalyptus and they make up almost all of the trees native to Australia. They are present in almost every environment on the continent, except the very alpine tips of mountains and the most arid portions of the interior desert (where they may be found near bodies of water anyway). They're so hardy that they survive well as invasive species of tree in other countries. Some people try to eradicate them because they hog water resources, but they've become a boon to struggling communities in areas like arid Africa, where they've become a economic resource for their timber and their oil.

That's right, these trees are so awesome they help starving children in Africa. Don't you feel guilty now?

The Eucalyptus tree has inspired artists to poetry and painting. It's grace in the wind, it's solitary watch over an empty field. It's grandeur over lesser plants and it's sheltering limbs! Some trees are more humble and only grow to shrubby-heights. Forest and woodland eucalyptus trees tower above the rest! The Australian Mountain Ash is the tallest flowering plant in the world, topped only by a few species of conifer!

"El Grande"

In the fog and the rain, the volatile oils responsible for the trademark aroma of the tree leaves are released. The smell of eucalyptus fills the air, mixing with other scents to create something truly Australian.  As light strikes through the mist, the oil droplets refract away the blue light. This sight was so magnificent that they named the Blue Mountains after this phenomenon.

BOOM. That was your brain. Exploding in wonder.

Eucalyptus oil is what this tree is most famous for in the rest of the world. It is used for its fragrance alone and as a medicinal for colds, allergies, and similar respiratory conditions.  It can be used as an antiseptic and a bug-repellent. I learned today that it is also used as an industrial solvent, which was a little unsettling consider how much of it I breathed on my walk...

It was also a little unsettling to learn that this aura of oil is very flammable. Apparently, eucalyptus trees are a fire hazard. Their oil burns, their bark not only flakes off and acts as wildfire-tinder, but it's a slow burning that encourages persistence of the fire. Branches also have a tendency to just drop, so maybe I should have spent less time under them as a child...

Luckily for the trees, they're also fairly flame resistant. Some trees have resilient bark with resilient names like "ironbark". If their bark does not protect them, they keep little growth buds tucked away so they can blossom forth with new regrowth! The species that can't do this just have hardy "reserve seeds", so they have to start over again. Regardless, a eucalyptus forest is pretty much immortal as long as humans don't interfere.

kinky little tassles

Speaking of blossoms, the Eucalyptus flower is fascinating.

Those fluffy little tassles aren't actually petals! They're a collection of stamens, which produce the tree's pollen. Which is kinda kinky when you think about it. Eucalyptus just hangs it all out there. No big deal, just pollinating here.

If you grew up around eucalyptus trees like I did, you'll so recognize the leftover woody portion of their seed fruit. Each little cup would have held a little fruit (the famous "gum-nut") that would have dropped or been eaten.

Gum-nut pods

This is going to sound really weird, but my absolutely favorite part of eucalyptus trees are their bark.

It's worse than their bite! *bah duhn tsssh* ....  Yah not funny moving on.

Ironbark

Bark Bark

Eucalyptus trees have a TON of different bark types. Each of these trees is a eucalyptus, but they all have a different bark!

Bark Bark Bark Bark! And this is mine, btw. Watermark fail.

You'll notice that some of the trees don't have bark further up their trunk. This is because a number of species have deciduous bark. Holy CRAP that is awesome!  The outer layer will die and peel off in flakes or in long strips. Or sometimes it will sit there as a dead outer coating until it wears away or is removed by bugs and other animals (like children). The best part is that trees that leave the lower half of their trunk are sometimes called "blackbutts".

LOL Butt Joke!

Another name for Eucalyptus trees is "Gum Tree". This is a reference to the sticky sap that collects between grooves in the bark.

Many of you will recognize the term "Gum tree" from the song "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree".  He only thinks he's a king; not many people actually like them all that much because of their noise and tendency to steal bacon.

Which he did.

Other birds will make their homes in Eucalyptus trees, either building a nest on them, or making nests out of hollows and holes in the trunks and branches. Here's a rainbow ninja near a possible nest!

That or a toilet. Hah potty humor. This that "class" I mentioned.

Eucalyptus trees are also known as homes for Koalas. Koalas are notorious for preference certain species of eucalyptus (they'll sniff the leaves to pick their favorites), but they're not actually the pickiest of marsupials. Regardless, the deforestation of eucalyptus forests has a profound impact on the lives of all animals who live there.  So be a hippie, and save a tree! FOR THE KOALAS!

The Rare Rhyming Mustachioed Koala

I only scratched the bark on these elegant eucalypti. If you like to learn more, here are some links! Included... furniture facts, invasive species summary and "How Australian Trees Kill You"!!

Links:
Wikipedia Entry
Australian Gov't Article
PlantNet Article

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