Eucalyptus L'Hér.

Overview

Eucalyptus belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae; Kew gives its native range as the Philippines to Australia. Flora of Somalia gives more than 800 species and Trees of New Guinea about 880, overwhelmingly Australian; many are planted in warmer parts of the world for timber, firewood, oil or ornament. The RHS describes evergreen trees and shrubs with usually blue-green or silvery, menthol-scented leaves.

Florists’ eucalyptus comes from several species: WCVP records cider gum, E. gunnii, as native to Tasmania, and silver dollar, E. cinerea, to New South Wales and Victoria.

Classification and characters

L’Héritier published the genus in 1789 (WCVP). Flora Zambesiaca describes juvenile leaves as mostly horizontal, opposite, heart-shaped and stalkless, and adult leaves as hard, mostly hanging vertically, alike on both faces, alternate and stalked. The perianth forms an operculum that falls off whole as the stamens expand, and the capsule is usually woody (Flora of Tropical East Africa). The round leaves florists use are mostly juvenile foliage.

The plate above is E. globulus, drawn by Redouté, from plate 13 of the atlas to Labillardière’s account of the voyage in search of La Pérouse: WCVP cites volume 1 of that work (1800) as where the species was published and records it as native to Tasmania and Victoria.

Distribution

WCVP records the genus as native to 13 TDWG botanical regions and introduced in 93 more.

Bismarck ArchipelagoLesser Sunda Is.MalukuNew GuineaNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryPhilippinesQueenslandSouth AustraliaSulawesiTasmaniaVictoriaWestern Australia

Introduced

Accepted species

WCVP accepts 816 species; names with × are natural hybrids. The count changes with revisions; checked 2026-10-24.

Historic plates

Plates in date order; the printed names are kept as they appear, current names are on the species pages and the topic page.

• 

  Eucalyptus globulus

  Relation du voyage à la recherche de La Pérouse (Atlas) · No 13 · 1800
  Pierre-Joseph Redouté
• 

  Eucalyptus obliqua

  The Paradisus Londinensis · 1805
  William Hooker
• 

  Eucalyptus macrocarpa

  Curtis's Botanical Magazine · 4333 · 1847
  Walter Hood Fitch
• 

  Eucalyptus coccifera

  Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe · 735 · 1851
  

Growing, cut-foliage handling and safety

The RHS notes that eucalypts usually have disc-like juvenile leaves and long pointed adult leaves, the juvenile foliage being prized by gardeners and florists; coppicing or pollarding every few years in spring keeps the size down and the juvenile leaves coming. Young trees grow fast, 1 m or more a year.

For silver dollar eucalyptus, Floralife advises storing at 3–5 °C and 75–85% relative humidity; vase life is 20 days or more, and it must never freeze. Re-cut stems and place them in lukewarm water with flower food; the foliage should be evenly coloured without interveinal chlorosis. Under water stress it produces ethylene, and warm, poorly handled foliage can release enough to harm ethylene-sensitive flowers, though this is not a concern under normal conditions. To dry it, hang it upside down so it keeps its leaves and shape. The ASPCA lists Eucalyptus as toxic to dogs, cats and horses through essential oils such as eucalyptol, with salivation, vomiting, diarrhoea, depression and weakness.

Further reading

• Flower guide
• Reference library

References

1. WCVP · World Checklist of Vascular Plants (via ChecklistBank dataset 2232) · accessed 2026-10-24
2. Kew (POWO data on the ColPlanta site) · Eucalyptus, with notes from Flora Zambesiaca, Flora of Somalia, Flora of Tropical East Africa and Trees of New Guinea
3. RHS · How to grow eucalyptus
4. Floralife · Eucalyptus (Silver Dollar) care and handling
5. ASPCA Animal Poison Control · Eucalyptus