Eucalyptus kitsoniana

Eucalyptus kitsoniana is an attractive small tree all year round, with an elegant and graceful silhouette. With limited growth, it finds a place in many gardens, where its presence is quickly noticed with evergreen foliage in glaucous green, bark becoming particularly decorative with age and fragrant white flowering. The young foliage is very colourful and aromatic and highly appreciated in floral composition. In February-March, creamy flowers appear, particularly nectar-rich and attractive to bees. After this flowering, it tolerates pruning well, and its good regenerative capabilities allow it to be grown in a single or multiple trunk. Depending on pruning, it forms a branching tuft on several stems 5 to 7 m (16 ft 5 in to 23 ft) high or a large tree with a single trunk from 7 to 9 m (23 to 29 ft 6 in). Its placement in the garden requires the choice of a suitable location, in the sun, in soil that is not too wet in winter and not too dry in summer. Young plants are sensitive to frosts, and winter protection is recommended.

Eucalyptus kitsoniana is a small tree or mallee with fairly rapid growth, hardly exceeding 8 to 10 metres (26 feet 2 inches to 32 feet 10 inches) in height. More commonly named Gippsland Gum, or Gippsland Mallee or Bog Gum, it belongs to the Myrtaceae family. The species kitsoniana originates from southeastern Australia, in the state of Victoria. This endemic Victorian plant is present on the low coastal lands of the Welshpool-Foster-Mt Oberon region (southern Gippsland region, southeast of Melbourne), and the Portland district (west of Melbourne) and the Apollo Bay regions (southwest of Melbourne). It was first described in 1916 by Joseph Maiden (1859-1925), a British botanist and the denomination kitsoniana, honours the geologist, passionate naturalist, Sir Albert Ernest Kitson (1868–1937).

This eucalyptus is named "mallee" in Australia, due to its stature formed by several stems starting from the soil, reaching a height less than 10 metres (32 feet 10 inches). In its natural habitat, it reaches a height of 8 to 10 m (26 ft 2 in to 32 ft 10 in) and 5 to 6 m (16 ft 5 in to 19 ft 8 in) in span. In our climates, its size is more moderate and does not exceed 6 to 7 m (19 ft 8 in to 23 ft) in height. With moderately rapid growth, this species takes about 5 to 7 years to reach a height of 6 to 8 m (19 ft 8 in to 26 ft 2 in). It generally rises on several trunks starting from a lignotuber* located just below the soil surface. When young, it has tender green branches, carrying juvenile foliage, composed of elliptical to ovate leaves, 5 to 10 cm (2 to 3.9 in) long for 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3.1 in) wide, erect, apple green and shiny. Then as it develops, the sessile or petiolate leaves take a lanceolate or elliptical shape, 7 to 18 cm (2.8 to 7.1 in) long and 2 to 6 cm (0.8 to 2.4 in) wide, shiny on both sides, and medium green, bordered with a reddish edge. The leathery leaves are slightly aromatic and give off a menthol scent when crushed, rich in eucalyptol. As it ages, its rough brown bark peels off in ribbons, revealing a smooth underlayer, pale copper to yellow-green or pink-brown or cream white. Flowering occurs in late winter, between February and April in our climates, on plants a few years old. The inflorescence is composed of seven white flowers gathered in a tight bouquet, delicately perfumed and very attractive to bees. After flowering, the fruits, called "gumnut", appear as a group of woody, globular, truncate capsule, glued to the branch. Of a beautiful silvery grey, they remain attached to the stem for a long time.

This eucalyptus has a lignotuber, consisting of a swelling rich in starch that forms on the roots just below the soil surface. This organ allows it to regrow from the stump in case of severe frost, fire or close pruning. The plant also produces numerous shoots from dormant buds located under its bark, which allows it to respond well to pollarding, topping or more severe pruning.

The Gippsland Gum finds a place in the garden planted alone in a clear space to appreciate the beauty of its bark and the elegance of its foliage. To highlight its architectural habit, it is grown on a single trunk or in multi-trunks. It accommodates all types of soil, avoiding too heavy (clayey) soils with stagnant moisture. It tolerates both coastal and semi-arid climates in summer, and its cold resistance will go down to -10°C (14 °F). Comfortable in moist soils, but not marshy, it has the ability to dry them out.