Corymbia citriodora
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lemon-scented Gum | ||||||||||||||
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| Corymbia citriodora (Hook.) K.D. Hill & L.A. Johnson |
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Eucalyptus citriodora |
Corymbia citriodora is a tall tree, to 50 metres in height, from temperate and tropical eastern Australia. It is also known as lemon-scented gum, spotted gum and lemon eucalyptus.
Corymbia citriodora has smooth, uniform or slightly mottled bark, white to coppery in summer, and a conspicuously narrow-leaved crown which is smells strongly of lemons. Pear-shaped buds are borne in clusters of three, formed in the corner of leaf and stem junctions, whilst fruit (capsules) are urn-shaped. The bark is smooth for the entire height of the tree, often powdery, shedding in thin curling flakes.[1]
It prefers lighter loamy soils and occurs in dry sclerophyll forest and woodlands in hilly country. Corymbia citriodora has a lignotuber. Flowering has been recorded in January, April, May, June, July, August, October and December.
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Plants of C. citriodora are naturalized in the Darling Range near Mundaring, Western Australia, and also in suburban Sydney, New South Wales, having spread from plantings. Kings Park in Perth, has a famous, beautiful avenue of this species planted many years ago, but it has spread to become a serious weed there also. (Hussey et al., 1997)
Corymbia citriodora is an important forest tree, in demand for structural timber and for honey production. It also is popular in horticulture both within Australia and overseas. The name Corymbia citriodora comes from the Latin citriodorus, which means lemon-scented.
The essential oil of the lemon-scented gum mainly consists of citronellal (80%),[2] produced mainly in Brazil and China.[3] It is used in insect repellents and perfumery. Some research has shown that it is not very effective as an insect repellent,[4] while other research demonstrates that its effect against mosquitoes is similar to that of repellents containing low concentrations of DEET.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ - Corymbia citriodora
- ^ Boland, D.J. et al, Eucalyptus Leaf Oils - Use, Chemistry, Distillation and Marketing, ISBN 0-909605-69-6.
- ^ Lawless, J., The Ilustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils, ISBN 1-85230-661-0
- ^ Assessment of the efficacy of quwenling as a mosquito repellent. Collins, D. A.; Brady, J. N.; Curtis, C. F. Dep. Biol., Imp. Coll. Sci. Technol. Med., London, UK. Phytotherapy Research (1993), 7(1), 17-20. CODEN: PHYREH ISSN: 0951-418X. Journal written in English.
- ^ CDC: West Nile Virus - Updated Insect Repellent
