Eucalyptus kybeanensis

Eucalyptus kybeanensis is a species well suited to small gardens, hardly exceeding 4 to 5 metres (13 feet 1 inches to 16 feet 5 inches) after several years. This beautiful tree has rapid growth when young, becoming slower over the years, and develops on several stems from the base, thus forming an elegant and graceful tuft. Its vegetation is not dense, so you can see the attractive trunks covered with chocolate brown bark with white streaks, changing with age. The olive-green, evergreen, lanceolate leaves, give charm to this eucalyptus all year round. Its Australian subalpine origins give it vigour, robustness and good hardiness, provided it is planted in soil that is not too wet in winter and not too dry in summer. This eucalyptus can be grown in pots, being careful to maintain a balance between root volume and vegetation, while maintaining regular watering. Young shoots respond well to pruning, which allows control of its development.

Eucalyptus kybeanensis is a species endemic to the high subalpine regions of south-eastern Australia, south-east of New South Wales (Wadbilliga, Munyang Range, Guthega, Geehi Creek) and east of Victoria (Mt Seldom Seen, Mt Wellington, Mt Skene). In these high subalpine regions, it develops on soils variably composed of turf, sand and clay, and it is exposed to harsh climatic conditions (frost, snow, thick fogs). Belonging to the Myrtaceae family, it is commonly called Kybean Mallee Ash. Richard Hind Cambage (geologist and botanist) collected this variety for the first time in 1908 near Kybean, a town located 123 km (76.4 mi) south of Canberra, in New South Wales. The species kybeanensis refers to this town.

This eucalyptus is named "mallee" in Australia, because of its stature formed by several stems starting from the ground, reaching a height less than 10 metres (32 feet 10 inches). In its natural habitat, it reaches a height of 7 to 10 m (23 to 32 ft 10 in) and 5 to 6 m (16 ft 5 in to 19 ft 8 in) in width. In our climates, it is more moderate, not exceeding 4 to 6 m (13 ft 1 in to 19 ft 8 in) in height. With a rather slow growth, this species takes about 7 to 9 years to reach 4 to 5 m (13 ft 1 in to 16 ft 5 in) in height. It generally rises on several trunks starting from a lignotuber* located just below the surface of the soil. When young it displays grey branches covered with white hairs and bearing juvenile foliage, composed of lanceolate, pointed leaves, 4 to 8 cm (1.6 to 3.1 in) long and 1 to 2 cm (0.4 to 0.8 in) wide, upright, green and shiny. Then, as it develops, the leaves, with a petiole of about 5 mm (0.2 in), take a lanceolate to crescent shape, rounded at the tip, 6 to 11 cm (2.4 to 4.3 in) long and 1 to 1.5 cm (0.4 to 0.6 in) wide, shiny on both sides and pretty water green. The leaves are tough and slightly aromatic and give off a menthol scent, when crushed, rich in eucalyptol. As it ages, its brown bark with white streaks, peels off in ribbons, revealing a smooth underlayer, with patches of brown and caramel colour, mixed with olive green and grey shades. Flowering occurs in spring, between March and May on plants a few years old. The inflorescence is in the leaf axil, and composed of seven, nine or eleven small white flowers gathered in a tight bunch, delicately scented and very attractive to bees. After flowering, the fruits, called "gumnuts", appear in the form of a woody, globular, truncate capsule, attached to the branch by a short petiole. They are a beautiful silver-grey and 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 surface of the soil. This organ allows it to restart from the stump in case of severe frost, fire or severe pruning. The plant also produces numerous shoots from dormant buds located under its bark, allowing it to respond well to coppicing, topping or more severe pruning. Note that this Eucalyptus is native to the alpine highlands withstands snow and wind.

The Kybean Gum Tree finds a place in the garden planted alone in a clear space to appreciate the beauty of its barks and the elegance of its foliage. In order to highlight its architectural habit, it is grown on several trunks. It supports both semi-mountainous and semi-arid climates in summer, and its resistance to cold will go down to -15°C (5 °F). Comfortable in wet, but not marshy, soil, it has the ability to dry them out.