Everything about Eucalyptus Piperita totally explained
Eucalyptus piperita, commonly known as
Sydney Peppermint and
Urn-fruited Peppermint, is a small to medium forest tree native to
New South Wales,
Australia.
Description
It has grey, rough and finely fibrous bark on its trunk, but its branches are smooth and white. Adult leaves are dull blue-green and often oblique. Bright yellow-green flowers are borne in clusters of seven or more in late spring to mid summer. Fruit is
urceolate (urn shaped) to barrel shaped., especially on the sides of valleys.
Taxonomy
Specimens of
E. piperita were first collected by
First Fleet surgeon and naturalist
John White, and published by
James Edward Smith in his appendix to White's 1790
Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales. Smith gave it the specific epithet
piperita because its odour of its
essential oil was so similar to that of
Mentha ×
piperita, the
peppermint. White's
Voyage also featured a plate showing the plant's leaves and old fruit, but no flowers.
Smith's description was republished in his 1793
A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland, but this didn't stop
Richard Anthony Salisbury publishing the same plant as
Metrosideros aromatica in 1796. Other later synonyms include:
