Eucalyptus - the Latin name Eucalyptus is a tall, fast-growing species of trees and shrubs. The homeland of the green giants of the plant world is the smallest continent - Australia and the islands closest to the mainland. Europeans brought the evergreen eucalyptus (tree) to France in the middle of the 19th century for growing in gardens, and dwarf forms in greenhouses. Since then, these green skyscrapers, natural pumps and a thunderstorm of microbes have spread around the world.
The "skin-changing" plant
On Earth, there are not many representatives of the flora that are freed from the bark on their own. The Russian writer V. Soloukhin was struck by this fact when he was vacationing in the Caucasus. He remarked that the eucalyptus is a tree "forever rejuvenating". Chinara (sycamore) is also able to shed its bark on its own. For this feature, the tree is popularly called "shameless".
Powerful andstrong trunks, healing essential oil, leaves that do not shed eucalyptus (tree). The description of this amazing plant includes many interesting details. For example, the outer layer of the crust crumbles in March, when autumn sets in in the southern hemisphere. Then the trunks and branches of eucalyptus trees become gray, greenish, yellow, sometimes bluish.
Description of eucalyptus
The leaves of the tree are opposite and alternate, and their size depends on age. The main features of the leaf apparatus are the integral form of the plate, the presence of intercellular glands with essential oil. Mature leaves are lanceolate, with a pointed tip. The length is 12 cm, the width is 2.5 cm. At a young age, they have a more pronounced silver tint, rounded or heart-shaped.
Eucalyptus - a tree that does not give shade, because the leaf blades turn edge to the sun. White flowers - bisexual, collected in umbellate or paniculate inflorescences, there are also single ones. The sepals grow together with the ovary, and the petals become woody, resulting in the formation of a fruit - a box with a lid. Inside are small seeds that spill out when the valves open.
Genus "Eucalyptus"
Flowering evergreen trees and shrubs belong to the myrtle family. In Australia, in the last century, 90% of natural plantations were eucalyptus forests. There are about 700 species that the genus Eucalyptus unites, most of them are native to Australia, only 15 are of their origin.owe to the islands of Oceania.
For more than 100 years, eucalyptus (tree) has been cultivated in tropical and temperate latitudes, on the continents of Eurasia, Africa and America. Several heat-loving species that are grown in the Mediterranean, the United States, Brazil, the Middle East, and China have become widespread. These include eucalyptus:
- rod-shaped;
- almond;
- ball ball;
- ashy.
Eucalyptus flowers do not have a strong fragrance, but they attract bees. These nectar and pollen collectors in Australia prefer eucalyptus. Essential oils of different types of eucalyptus are used in alternative and official medicine, are used in perfumery, cosmetology. The leaves of these amazing Australian plants also have medicinal properties.
Eucalyptus - the tallest tree in the world
Trees are characterized by rapid, rapid growth. You can find quite large specimens that have reached only ten years of age. Here are some amazing facts:
- almond eucalyptus already in the first few years of life grows up to 3 m with a trunk thickness of up to 6 cm;
- trees in natural conditions can have a height of 12 m in 5 years, a thickness of up to 20 cm, old specimens are known to be more than 150 m high (such an unusual tree reaches 30 m in girth);
- height (eucalyptus) of the trunk at the age of 20 is usually 30–40 m;
- genetically modified trees reach 27–30 m in height by 5-6 years.
Famous Russiannaturalist writer K. Paustovsky compared eucalyptus and conifers. It turns out that at the age of five, this amazing plant produces more wood than spruce or fir at the age of 120.
The benefits of the "green skyscraper"
Height of a eucalyptus tree in 20 years - with a 15-storey building. Fully mature and ready for industrial felling at the age of 25–30 years. By the age of 40, trees can be taller and thicker than bicentennial oaks. From eucalyptus get paper, cardboard. World famous for its hard and durable wood, comparable in quality to black walnut. It almost does not rot, sinks in water, repels wood-boring insects.
Eucalyptus stems are used where material durability is needed. Piles of straight and smooth trees will stand in sea water for two decades without signs of decay. Wood of different species is unequally colored, differs in texture. Yellow, olive, white and reddish tones predominate, which are especially appreciated in the furniture industry and building decoration.
Transgenic trees
It is difficult to light eucalyptus wood, but the coal obtained from it is of high quality. Biotechnology departments of industrial companies have created genetically modified specimens that grow 40% faster even in dense plantings, produce more wood and coal. Plantations of transgenic plants - eucalyptus, pine, poplar, papaya and other fruits, rapeseed, soybeans, vegetables - occupy more and more space on Earth. Their experimental cultivation has been carried out since the 1980s indifferent countries. With the help of these plants, food and raw material problems can be solved, and the ever-increasing world energy needs can be satisfied.
For more than 10 years, Israeli biotechnologists have been studying the possibilities of industrial cultivation of GMO trees of eucalyptus and poplar. The mass introduction of such commercial plantings is restrained only by laws in the field of biological safety. They regulate the scope of circulation of transgenic products, but are not adopted in all countries.
The consequences of the introduction of GMOs are not well understood, but it is already clear that transgenic eucalyptus trees are more resistant to pests and can have an unaccounted impact on the soil and living organisms. Possible impacts are related to food webs in ecosystems. Eucalyptus and poplar trees spread pollen over a wide area, live for decades, so the harmful effects last longer.
What can be dangerous modified eucalyptus (tree)? Where a transgenic specimen grows, surrounded by natural forms, their mutual cross-pollination can occur. This, according to experts in the field of biological safety, is fraught with uncontrollable consequences. Nightmarish scenes from science fiction films can come true when shoots grow at incredible speed and break through walls.
Eucalyptus in landscape design
Evergreen has excellent wind-shelter properties, drains damp soils. Eucalyptus roots are able to absorb an unusually large amount of water, sothe tree is called the "green pump". A landscape architect will name many other valuable features that eucalyptus has.
The tree at home is grown more and more often, it is unpretentious, requires minimal care. More time and care will be needed to form the bonsai with pruning and the main shoot. In landscape design, eucalyptus is suitable for stabilizing soil on slopes, escarpments and banks of water bodies to prevent erosion. The plant prefers moist but well-drained sandy loamy soils (pH value is neutral to slightly acidic).
Healing properties of eucalyptus
Australian hospitals have long hung eucalyptus branches to disinfect the air. Phytoncides secreted by the plant have an antiseptic and soothing effect. An infusion of leaves is used in folk medicine as an expectorant, disinfectant and anti-inflammatory agent. Infected wounds are washed with 15% decoction of eucalyptus leaves (previously sterilized).
Eucalyptus Oil
The most suitable for treatment is essential oil obtained from the type of eucalyptus ball (ball). As a medicinal raw material, only the old leaves of the plant are suitable. They are harvested in summer and autumn, when the percentage of oil rises. Both fresh and dried leaves can be subjected to extraction to obtain volatile aromatic substances. Eucalyptus oil is a colorless, yellow or greenish liquid with a pleasant smell. This productleaf processing perfectly refreshes the air, saturates it with a useful and pleasant aroma. Eucalyptol, which is part of the oil, has an antiseptic and expectorant effect, helps with diseases of the mouth and throat. It is used in sprays and lozenges for sore throats, flu.
To grow eucalyptus in a room, it is better to use seeds of relatively low-growing species, place seedlings and seedlings in a small bowl. Will require annual transshipment or repotting, intense sunlight and good moisture.
The fragrant leaves of each type of eucalyptus have their own aroma, which combines notes of lemon, rose, violet, lilac. Most of all, the smell of oil resembles laurel, turpentine, camphor. In rooms where eucalyptus is grown, trees delight the eye with elegant and he althy foliage, purify the air with phytoncides.
