G'day again John,
Yes, the Eucalypts of California are originally from Australia.
Members of
the Eucalyptus genus dominate the tree flora of Australia. There are
more
than 700 species of Eucalyptus, mostly native to Australia, and a
very small
number are found in adjacent parts of New Guinea and Indonesia and
one as
far north as the Philippines islands. Only 15 species occur outside
Australia, and only 9 do not occur in Australia.
Species of Eucalyptus from Australia are
cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics including the
Americas,
England, Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, China and
the
Indian Subcontinent.
Eucalyptus is one of three similar genera that are commonly referred
to as
"eucalypts," the others being Corymbia and Angophora. Many, but far
from
all, are known as gum trees because many species exude copious sap
from any
break in the bark (e.g. Scribbly Gum).
Eucalyptus has attracted attention from global development
researchers and
environmentalists. It is a fast-growing source of hardwood, its oil
can be
used
for cleaning and functions as a natural insecticide and anti-septic,
and it
is sometimes
used to drain swamps and thereby reduce the risk of malaria.
On warm days vaporised Eucalyptus oil rises above the bushland tree
tops 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 lignotubers and epicormic buds under the bark.
The severity of wild fires in both Victoria Australia and California
USA is
largely attributable to the explosive flammability of the oils in
Eucalypt
foliage.
Hope this has been of interest,
John
Melbourne Australia.
----- Original Message -----
From: John Sherrer
To: blindwoodworker@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 10:37 AM
Subject: [blindwoodworker] Re: 54Eucalyptus?
Thank you John. I did not have any idea that Eucalyptus had so much
variety. My wife and I uwse essential oils, and four Eucalyptus
essentials
are available. I thought that there were four different kinds of
Eucalyptus
.
I have read several articles that talked about California has
Eucalyptus
trees, I wonder if they are native or were brought from Australia?
John
