Page 33 - Seniors Today - May21 Issue
P. 33
Health Plus
Eucalyptus:
Blessing or Curse?
This strong-smelling medicinal plant has many benefits, but you need to
use it with care, writes Dr Nandini Saini
Most people would have suffered from leaves, and capsule fruit some of the more
cold, cough or sinusitis at some point in popular varieties are the black peppermint
their lives, and most would have applied tree, the Tasmanian bluegum, and
a few drops of that sweet scented oil on mahogany.
their body or handkerchief to relieve the
symptom. It is one of grandma’s time-tested History of eucalyptus in India:
remedies. Did you guess which oil? Historians say that this tree was first
Yes, Eucalyptus! planted in the 1700s by Tipu Sultan in
Eucalyptus (genus Eucalyptus) is a his palace on the Nanda hills, more for
large genus of more than 660 species of decorative beauty than for the medicinal
evergreen shrubs and tall trees of the benefits. They were then planted
myrtle family (Myrtaceae). It is native to extensively in the nilgiri hills in Tamil
Australia. Many species are cultivated Nadu, in 1843. Eventually, about 170
widely throughout the temperate regions species were introduced in India, of which,
of the world as shade trees or in forestry the Mysore Gum is the most popular.
plantations. In Australia, the eucalypti are
commonly known as gum trees or stringy Uses
bark trees. The use of the eucalyptus tree- its bark,
They are rapidly growing, tall trees. Most leaves and the oil extracted from it has
of them attain a height of about 90 mtrs. been in practice from ancient times.
They have leathery, vertically hanging The Australian aborigines used it to
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #23 | MAY 2021 33
