The Eucalyptus: For a fresh, clean aroma
“PEOPLE can tell you are the owner of a floral arrangement with Eucalyptus the minute they enter your home. The fresh, clean aroma will fill your home for days.” Those were the words of local horticulturalist, Nesha
Deonauth when she spoke to this publication last week about the Eucalyptus.
This plant is becoming increasingly popular each year at Christmastime, not as a tree, but as a cut plant in a floral arrangement that adds colour to indoor decorations. Its most attractive feature is its sweet, fragrant smell.
The demand for Eucalyptus cuttings to adorn indoor and outdoor settings has been growing in recent years, as increasing numbers of people discover its beautiful foliage and incredible aroma.
Deonauth added that at Christmastime, floral arrangements involving the Eucalyptus record major sales.

Family history
The Eucalyptus is a member of the genus of flowering trees known as the Myrtle. A few shrubs dominate the tree flora of Australia with more than 700 species, which are mostly native to Australia. A very small number grows in adjacent areas of New Guinea and Indonesia. Only fifteen species occur outside of Australia, and only nine of those do not occur in Australia.
Species of Eucalyptus are cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics, including in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, China, and the Indian Sub-continent.
The Eucalyptus is a huge tree that usually exceeds 100 feet in height. Moreover, it grows at a rate of approximately six feet per year. Consequently, this tree is considered by gardeners with limited space to be quite unmanageable, and most
likely not the best plant for a small garden.

Varieties
There are several huge Eucalyptus trees in the National Park, and Horticulturalist Nesha Deonauth explained that there are several varieties of the Eucalyptus, but they generally fall into two main categories: those with long, slim leaves; and those with round leaves.
Her shop has fresh cuttings of the Eucalyptus with round, green leaves with a silvery look – called in some countries the Silver
Dollar Eucalyptus, but known locally as the Dime Eucalyptus. The Silver Dollar Eucalyptus or Dime Eucalyptus, in particular, can last as an interior decoration for over a year as an eye pleasing interior decoration, even though it will lose its fragrance after a few weeks.
The Eucalyptus floral arrangements at Nesha’s Flowerland are part of Christmas Centrepieces of fresh plants comprising the holly, the douglas fir, the Norfolk pine, the poinsettia and ferns.
These exotic pieces will be going on sale from mid-December. Deonauth said that the arrangements of fresh flowers can last long
after Christmas, once properly tended.

Other uses
A more well-known use for the plant is the production of eucalyptus oil, in which the leaves are steam distilled to extract the oil. China is the largest commercial producer of Eucalyptus oil.
The Eucalyptus oil has been touted as having therapeutic, perfumery, flavoring, antimicrobial and biopesticide properties.

The British poet John Bevereley Nichols
(9 September 1898 – 15 September 1983) once said that to be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.
More information on the sweet smelling Silver Dollar Eucalyptus as part of a floral arrangement of fresh cut plants for Christmas can be had from Nesha’s Flowerland at 223 Wellington Street and South Road, Lacytown,
Tel# 225-3315.