Eucalyptus trees - a Koala's favourite meal

Eucalyptus (from Greek, ευκάλυπτος meaning "well covered") is the name for over 700 species of trees that dominate the tree flora of Australia. Most of them are only found in Australia with a very few in New Guinea and Indonesia.
Today however the trees can be found in places as far afield as California, India and Israel. Especially in newly devoloping countries the eucalypt can be a fast growing source of wood, and oil which is used as a natural insecticide and cleaner.
The leaves come in many different shapes from almost round to long and thin, but all have the beautiful distinctive aroma of eucalyptus when you crush them in your fingers.
The eucalyptus trees come in small (up to 10 metres high), medium, (up to 30 metres) and tall (up to and over 60 metres high).
All of the eucalypts are evergreen and the distinctive flowers and fruit (called gumnuts) come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. Some look like stars, others like spears or round like rocks.
The flowers with their fluffy stamens may be white, cream, yellow, pink or red. Some trees flower so much the color overwhelmes the tree but others have only a small sprinkling of flowers so small they are almost impossible to see.
The eucalyptus trees around Treetops holiday house include the spectacularly tall blue gums and the soft flowered manna gums.