Eucalyptus oleosa is a hardy Australian mallee or small multi-stemmed tree, grown in gardens for its drought, salt and frost tolerance. Give it full sun and well-drained soil, and it needs little care once established.
Family
Myrtaceae (Myrtle family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while young, then rarely; established plants tolerate drought well.
Soil
Sandy or loamy, well-drained soil; tolerates limestone-influenced soils.
Temperature
Hardy to frost and hot, dry conditions; protect young plants from hard frost.
How easy
Easy
Native range
S. & SE. Australia
Climate
subtropical
About
Eucalyptus oleosa, commonly known as the red mallee, glossy-leaved red mallee, acorn mallee, oil mallee or giant mallee, is a tree or mallee that is native to Australia. The leaves were once harvested for the production of cineole based eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptus cneorifolia is now the predominant strain used in production due to a higher oil content in new growth.
Where it grows
Red mallee is one of the most widespread mallee species in Australia. In Western Australia it is found on hills, sand plains, flats and gravel pits in the southern Wheatbelt, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions growing in sandy or loamy soils often over limestone. The species range extends east into most of southern and central South Australia and then into northern and eastern Victoria and south western New South Wales south of Coonbah and west of Koraleigh. It is often part of a codominant community of mallee shrubland on red aeolian sands.
Uses
Aside from Eucalyptus oil production E. oleosa is also suitable to produce large amounts of biomass, able to make 10 to 20 metric tons (11 to 22 short tons) per hectare per year. In wheatbelt regions it is also beneficial as the tree will reduce salinity, give shade to stock, act as a windbreak and reduce erosion.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eucalyptus oleosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.