Eucalyptus Regal

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Eucalyptus regal (lat. Eucalyptus regnans) - the tallest flowering tree on our planet. Only Sequoia can compete with him, since today not the highest specimens of the regal Eucalyptus remain on Earth. Unfortunately, the tallest trees remained only in the records of the discoverers, later dying under the weight of years, in the flames of fires or being cut down by people. For example, the German botanist Ferdinand Müller, who spent a lot of effort on studying the nature of Australia, wrote in 1888 about the Royal Eucalyptus as a "colossal tall" tree.

What's in your name

The first word in the name of any plant is usually the generic name. In this case, it indicates that the tallest tree on the planet belongs to the genus of plants with the name "Eucalyptus" (Latin Eucalyptus), representing the Myrtaceae family (Latin Myrtaceae) on the planet.

The specific name of the plant "regnans" literally translates from Latin as "dominant", possibly a variant - "reigning". However, in the Russian name it sounds like "regal", which has a slightly different shade, but, nevertheless, is suitable for the tallest flowering plant on Earth, emphasizing its uniqueness.

It is interesting that the folk names of the tree are quite simple and do not at all rank it among the "royal persons". For example, "Mountain ash" ("Rowan ordinary", or "American mountain ash") - due to the similarity of their wood, "Swamp gum" ("Swamp gum (or resin)", "Stringy gum" …

On the island of Tasmania, where whole forests of Regal Eucalyptus grow, it is called "Tasmanian oak" ("Tasmanian oak").

Description

The most majestic in height tree on our planet has a slender and smooth trunk, white or gray. Such a tree is not suitable for a summer cottage of six acres. Given its size, regal Eucalyptus is planted only in the largest parks and gardens.

The tree often falls under the flames of fires that periodically occur in Australia, burning out to the very roots, which are not able to revive the aerial part of the plant again. The regal eucalyptus owes its continuation of life on Earth to its seeds, which have good germination and give amicable shoots in the ashes. Due to the rapid growth of the plant, which can increase the height of the trunk by 1 meter annually, the earth devastated by fire quickly becomes covered with a light eucalyptus forest. After all, the leaves of the regal Eucalyptus, like the leaves of other species of the genus, turn to the sun with an edge, and therefore do not create a shadow.

If people with axes and saws do not invade the life of plants, if the fire bypasses the forest for a long period, the regal Eucalyptus can live for several centuries.

Lanceolate light green leaves hold on to branches with short petioles. The edge of the leaf is intermittently serrated. The length of young leaves reaches 8 cm, increasing to 20 cm as the tree grows.

Typical for Eucalyptus inflorescences of fragile white stamens, held by a calyx of accrete sepals, can be single, or arranged in clusters on thin pedicels in the leaf axils. The flowering time depends on the place where the tree grows. In Australia, this period falls in January-March, and on the shores of the Black Sea, Eucalyptus blooms in summer.

The seeds are hidden in a fruit box that looks like a bell on a leg.

Usage

In Australia, the wood of Eucalyptus regal is used for the production of building materials, furniture, paper. Wood chips, which are not even suitable for firewood, are sold to Japan, where they are used to make paper.

Alexander Rule paints a moving picture in his book Forests of Australia, describing the work of lumberjacks: the fallen monarch, whose age was determined at 400 years.

Eucalyptus leaves are suitable for the production of healing oil.