Eucalyptus globulus Labill., Myrtaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 10 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: blue gum, southern blue gum

French: eucalyptus globuleux, gommier bleu

Spanish: eucalipto azul

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trees 15-70 m tall, bark white, cream, yellow, or gray in patches, smooth throughout, often with accumulated shedding bark near base.  Adult leaves alternate, blades concolorous, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, 12-28 cm long, 1.2-3 cm wide, apex acuminate, petioles 20-30 mm long.  Flowers 1-7 in axillary, simple umbels, peduncles 0-25 mm long, pedicels 0-8 mm long; buds turbinate to obconical, verrucose, glaucous, 8-27 mm long, 5-17 mm wide; operculum low-hemispherical, slightly rostrate.  Fruit obconical to hemispherical, glaucous, 5-21 mm long, 6-24 mm wide, valves 3-5, level or exserted"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 954).

Habitat/ecology:  "Grass- and heathland, forests, riparian habitats.  This fast growing tree grows in a wide range of soils.  The tree competes for water and light, and produces large quantities of litter preventing the establishment of native species and posing a fire hazard.  Forests dominated by this tree are species poor.  The tree's high water consumption leads to decreased soil moisture contents"  (Weber, 2003; p. 163).

In Hawai‘i, "extensively planted..., spreading or at least regenerating from seed" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 954).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 954).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 81)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 51)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 954)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 954)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 954)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 954)
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	introduced cultivated	Sykes, W. R. (1977) (p. 118) Relic of cultivation.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 188)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 857) "Near wind-breaks and plantations in scrub and herbaceous vegetation, especially on roadside banks".
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced invasive	Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. (2001) (p. 156)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

Control: 

Physical:  "Stumps may be ground to a depth of 20-30 cm below the soil surface to prevent resprouting".

Chemical:  "Since the tree easily resprouts, cut stumps must be treated immediately with herbicides such as glyphosate, or sprouts must be regularly removed over several years"  (Weber, 2003; p. 154).

Additional information:  Fact sheet from "Common forest trees of Hawaii" (PDF format).

Additional online information about Eucalyptus globulus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Eucalyptus globulus may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. 2001. Plant invaders. Earthscan Publications, Ltd., London. 241 pp.

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Little, Elbert L./Skolmen, Roger G. 1989. Common forest trees of Hawaii (native and introduced). USDA Agriculture Handbook 679. Washington, D.C. 377 pp. + plates.

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 40:1-69. .

Sykes, W. R. 1977. Kermadec Islands flora: an annotated checklist. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 219, Wellington. 216 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.