Eucalyptus deglupta

Eucalyptus deglupta is native to the rainforests of Mindanao, which is a small island in the Philippine Island group. It has also naturalised through some Asian countries and across the Pacific to Hawaii. This tree is renowned for it’s beautiful bark hence the common name Rainbow Eucalyptus. Although this tree comes from the tropics it can withstand light frosts and is a very fast grower provided it has plenty of water. The main uses for Eucalyptus deglupta is for forestry where it is used for woodchip and fence poles. It is also used in large gardens and arboretums to display its spectacular bark.

At the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne we had a Eucalyptus deglupta in the Vireya bed that was slowly dying. A request to propagate this tree was received by the nursery and material was collected. The first batch of cuttings failed so we collected more material from the tree and discovered that the top had died out and juvenile sucker growth was growing from the base. We collected the juvenile growth and pampered the cuttings in our nursery for a year or so until they were potted on and are now happily growing. (See photo). 

The propagation of Eucalyptus by cuttings is a first for the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne nursery. The original tree is now dead we have two healthy 40-cm plants to replace it and keep this wonderful tree in our gardens.

Cheers,

Dermot Molloy

References;

Forest & Kim Starr (USGS)
http://davesgarden.com/members/palmbob/

http://eucalyptusdeglupta.com/