|
Eucalyptus nicholii (Willow Peppermint) - A weeping fine textured evergreen tree with a spreading crown that grows to 25-40 feet tall and 20-30 feet wide. It has reddish-brown deeply grooved bark and narrow gray green pendulous leaves that smell strongly of peppermint when crushed. The small white flowers that appear in summer are arranged in groups of seven.
Plant in full sun in soils that drain fairly well as it does poorly in wet soils. Irrigate occasionally to infrequently and is hardy to about 12° F. An attractive medium size fairly drought tolerant tree.
Eucalyptus nicholii is native to the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales. The name for the genus comes from the Greek words 'eu' meaning "well" and 'kalypto' meaning 'to cover' as with a lid and an allusion to the united calyx-lobes and petals that is called an operculum that forms a lid or cap that is shed when the flowers open. It was described in 1929 by Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney director Joseph Maiden and William Blakely in Maiden's book A Critical Revision of the genus Eucalyptus and the specific epithet honors Richard Nicol, Maiden's private secretary and the chief clerk at the botanic garden. We grew this nice Eucalyptus from 1980 until 2009.
The information about Eucalyptus nicholii that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
|
