Eucalyptus also known as Blue Gum is diverse genus of flowering trees and shrubs belonging to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. There are no indigenous eucalypts in South Africa. The genus, consisting of more than 700 speecies and are native to Australia. These trees are used as firewood, timber,and medicine by native aborigine.
Eucalyptus gum is a species prized for its strong wood, its aesthetic beauty, its ability to grow quickly in warm and arid areas, where other trees could not. The trees are the fastest and tallest growing trees in the world. Ralph Hosmer was curious to see how they would grow in South Africa and they were first introduced around the 1870's.
The tree has mostly smooth bark. The juvenile trees the leaves are whitish and waxy on the lower surface. The adult trees the leaves are glossy green and lance-shapped. The flowers form in buds arranged singly or in a group of three or seven in the leaf axils.