139 / 476
GENERAL
Origin
:
Mediterranean,
sub-tropical,
tropical
Humidity
:
semi-arid, semi-
humid
Propagation :
sowing and
pricking out
Maintenance :
high
CONDITIONS
Urban climate :
resistant
Dessication :
resistant
Stagnant water :
vulnerable
Irrigation
:
low
Salinity/ppm :
low (1000 ppm)
Hardiness
:
-9°C
SHAPE
Type
:
tree
Height
:
12 m-30 m
Spread
:
6 m-10 m
Foliage
:
evergreen
FLOWER
Colour
:
white
Period
:
January - March
Smell
:
scented, aroma,
strong, pleasantly
scented, leaf,
flower, sweet,
spicy
FRUIT
Type of fruit :
capsule
Fruit size
:
2 cm - 2.5 cm
Toxicity
:
inedible
The Blue Gum, known in Arabic as keenah or kafur, is one of the most extensively planted trees
in its native country of Australia. It typically grows to 30 metres and more, and is similar in habit
to E. camaldulensis with its peeling bark. When young, the leaves are broad, in opposite pairs and
covered with a blue-grey bloom. The mature leaves are then narrow, curved and dark green, up to
20 cm in length. Cream-coloured flowers produce nectar yielding a typically flavoured honey. The
roundish fruits bear many small seeds, shed through the top of the capsule. Like all eucalypts, it
has deep-spreading roots and grows rapidly, adapting to the conditions in of all arid regions. E.
globulus is the most cultivated plantation tree in Australia, widely used as pulpwood and for fuel.
The Blue Gum was often planted as a street tree in the past, but it is now regarded as unsuitable,
owing to its mature size and high maintenance requirement. Some ecologists consider it to be
an invasive species, as well as a fire hazard. Nevertheless, it is one of several eucalypts suitable
for planting in the Arriyadh region as a wind break, in reafforestation, and stabilising slopes
and watercourses. Given space, it is suitable as a park tree. Other eucalypts worth mentioning
are E. citriodora (Lemon-Scented Gum), a graceful, frost-tender tree, often seen in Kuwait, and
E. microtheca (Coolibah), a widely distributed eucalypt, proven in Kuwait and very frost-hardy.
138
Eucalyptus globulus,
Myrtaceae
Southern Blue Gum,
keenah, kafur