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Eucalyptus macrocarpa (Rose of the West) - A beautiful sprawling medium sized low branched shrub (mallee) to 8 to 10 feet tall and growing a bit wider than tall. It has oppositely paired 5 inch long by 3 inch wide ovate to heart shaped leaves that are a powdery gray to almost white color and have a menthol scent when bruised or crushed. The leaves are sessile with bases clasping the stem and pair arranged in alternating rows at 90-degree angles so leaves appear to radiate completely surrounding the stem. Primarily blooming in spring and early summer but occasionally at other times, the pale gray flower buds, held individually and tight to the stem, pop their caps to show off 4-inch-wide capsules topped with big bright red stamens with yellow anthers. After flowering the seed pod, often referred to as a "gumnut", is also an attractive whitish gray color and long remains attached to the stem.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil. Little to no irrigation required once established. Cold hardy to 20°F. Responds well to pruning to shape and if stems become too heavy when in bud and/or flower, as the added weight can break branches and can be trained up to be more tree-like. It can also be pruned hard to allow it to resprout from the subterranean lignotuber. A beautiful and unusual plant that is useful as a specimen or a low informal screen or windbreak and its flowers are also very attractive to hummingbirds. The flowers, which are the largest of any Eucalyptus, as well as the menthol-scented foliage and the fruit, are all great for use in large decorative flower arrangements.
In 1842 William Jackson Hooker, English botanist, botanical illustrator and director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, formally described this species in his Icones Plantarum from a specimen collected by James Drummond from the sandy Kwongan region north of Freemantle in Western Australia. It occurs over a wide range of this area from southeast of Geraldton south to Kulin and east into the western wheatbelt districts.
The plant was introduced into California in 1934 by Hugh Evans at his Evans and Reeves Nursery in Brentwood, California. 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. The specific epithet is a combination of the Greek words 'makros' meaning "long" and 'karpos' meaning "fruit". The common name Rose of the West makes reference to plant growing in Western Australia and its stunning flowers that are as showy as a rose. It is also called Desert Mallee for where it grows, Blue-bush for its leaf color and the aboriginal Noongar people called it Mottlecar with Mottlecah, an apparent variation of this aboriginal name commonly used in Australia. We previously grew (1983-1987) the very similar Eucalyptus rhodantha, which mostly only differs in having flowers and fruit on a short peduncle. We thank Troy McGregor at Waltzing Matilda for providing the plants for this crop. We also previously grew the very similar Eucalyptus rodantha from the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia that is a more compact plant with shorter leaves and hanging buds, flowers and fruits.
This information about Eucalyptus macrocarpa displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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