Eucalyptus cloeziana

Cultivation Details

Eucalyptus cloeziana is found in the subtropics to the tropics and can be grown at elevations up to 2,350 metres. It grows best in areas where the mean annual temperature is in the range 16 - 27°c, with a mean maximum temperature of the warmest month of 27 - 36°c, and a mean minimum temperature of the coldest month of 6 - 17°c. It prefers a mean average annual rainfall of 700 - 2,000 mm, with a dry season of up to 5 months. The tree is suitable for humid highland conditions, but it is sensitive to anything other than the lightest of frosts^{[1, 2]}. In tropical Africa it is especially recommended for regions with an annual rainfall of 1,000 - 1,500mm and a dry season of 4 - 5 months^[1]. It prefers well-drained, neutral to acidic, medium-textured soils^[1]. The plant develops a lignotuber - this is a woody tuber that starts to develop near the base of seedlings and can become massive in the mature plants of some species. It possesses embedded vegetative buds, allowing the plant to regenerate following crown destruction, for example by fire^[3]. In the savannah zone of Nigeria a mean annual height growth of 1.8 metres was achieved over the first 5 years after planting, with the tallest trees being 12.2 - 15.2 metres tall and 12 - 15cm in bole diameter. In the southern savannah zone of Nigeria the annual height growth in the first 2 years was 2.1 - 2.4 metres, and in the northern savanna zone the tallest 4.5-year-old trees were 14.6 metres tall with a bole diameter of 16.8cm^[1]. In experiments with Eucalyptus cloeziana in Congo the average height of different provenances was 11.1 - 20.7 metres after 5.5 years^[1]. Eucalyptus cloeziana generally coppices well^{[1, 2]}. When grown for poles, coppice rotations of 6 - 12 years are employed^[1]. Whilst most Eucalyptus species, grown in small numbers outside their native range, can be an attractive and useful addition to the landscape, certain species (including this one) are more problematic. When grown in monocultures, especially outside their native range, they can become an environmental disaster. They are voracious, especially in their use of water; they are allelopathic, inhibiting the growth of the native flora; they reduce habitats for native fauna; and encourage the worst possible attitudes to land use and conservation^[4].