“'The fastest growing tree in my yard' — 30 ft at 3 years. The trunk color show is the payoff.”
Background
Eucalyptus deglupta is the only eucalyptus native to the Northern Hemisphere, found in the rainforests of Mindanao (Philippines), Sulawesi, Seram, New Guinea, and New Britain. It is the only eucalyptus adapted to lowland rainforest and is probably the fastest-growing forestry tree in the world, topping 200 ft in ideal stands; pantropical pulpwood plantations began about a century ago. The rainbow bark develops as smooth orange-tinted bark peels in strips, revealing green that matures through blue, purple, orange, and maroon.
Distinguishing traits
Very fast evergreen tree, 60-80 ft in landscapes (to 250 ft wild); pyramidal crown; aromatic lance-shaped leaves; tiny white flowers. The multicolored peeling trunk is the entire show, though it is less vivid outside humid tropics and takes a couple of years to develop.
Desert care — zone 9b
- Chill hours
- n/a — ornamental
- Cold hardiness
- Zones 10-11; frost-intolerant. Established trees can handle brief dips into the upper 20s°F, but hard freezes kill it. Queen Creek is marginal — plant only in the warmest microclimate with winter protection for young trees.
- Heat tolerance
- Loves heat but needs humidity and water; dry desert air stresses it.
- Water
- High for a desert yard: keep soil consistently moist, especially the first years. This is a rainforest species, not a xeric tree.
- Soil
- Deep, fertile, well-drained, slightly acidic to neutral; not salt tolerant.
- Sun exposure
- Full sun.
Where to buy
- Fast Growing Trees