Eucalyptus piperita

taxobox
name = Sydney Peppermint

---

image_caption = "Eucalyptus piperita", Melbourne
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Eudicots
unranked_ordo = Rosids
ordo = Myrtales
familia = Myrtaceae
genus = "Eucalyptus"
species = "E. piperita"
binomial = "Eucalyptus piperita"
binomial_authority = |

"Eucalyptus piperita", commonly known as Sydney Peppermint and Urn-fruited Peppermint,cite web | title = Australian Plant Common Name Database | url = http://www.anbg.gov.au/common.names/ | accessdate = 2007-07-15 | publisher = Australian National Botanic Gardens] 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.cite book | author = Brooker, M. I. H. and Kleinig, D. A. | year = 2001 | title = Field Guide to Eucalyptus | location = Melbourne | publisher = Bloomings] , especially on the sides of valleys.cite book | author = Beadle, N. C. W., O. D. Evans and R. C. Carolin | year = 1972 | title = Flora of the Sydney Region | location = Terrey Hills, Sydney | publisher = Reed | isbn = 0 589 07086 X]

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.cite book | first = John | last = White | authorlink = John White (surgeon) | year = 1790 | title = Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales]

Smith's description was republished in his 1793 "A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland",cite book | first = James Edward | last = Smith | authorlink = James Edward Smith | year = 1793 | title = A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland | location = London | publisher = James Sowerby] but this did not stop Richard Anthony Salisbury publishing the same plant as "Metrosideros aromatica" in 1796. Other later synonyms include:APNI | name = "Eucalyptus piperita" Sm. | id = 51554]
* "Eucalyptus aromatica" (Salisb.) Domin
* "Eucalyptus bottii" Blakely
* "Eucalyptus piperita" Sm. var. "piperita"
* "Eucalyptus piperita" Sm. subsp. "piperita"
* "Eucalyptus piperita" var. "laxiflora" Benth.
* "Eucalyptus piperita" subsp. "urceolaris" (Maiden & Blakely) L.A.S.Johnson & Blaxell
* "Eucalyptus urceolaris" Maiden & Blakely

Uses

The volitile leaf oil of "E.piperita" has been used in stomach upsets. [ Lassak, E.V., & McCarthy, T., "Australian Medinal Plants", Methuen Australia, 1983, p154, ISBN 0 454 00438 9.]

"E.piperita" 'type' has a fresh weight oil yield of 2.25% containing piperitone (40-50%) and phellandrene. [Penfold, A.R. and Morrison, F.R. 1924. Notes on "Eucalyptus piperita" and its essential oils, with special reference to their piperitone content. "Part I. J. proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W.", 58, pp124-278]

Australian botanist, Joseph Maiden, was of the opinion that Dennis Considen, a surgeon on the First Fleet deserves credit for being the first person to recognize the medicinal value of Eucalyptus oil extracted from "E. piperita" found growing on the shores of Port Jackson in 1788. [ Maiden, J.H., "The Forest Flora of New South Wales", vol. 4, Government Printer, Sydney, 1922. ] This view is based on a letter Considen wrote in November 1788 to an English colleague, Dr Anthony Hamilton, saying that "..we have a large peppermint tree which is equal if not superior to our english peppermint. I have sent you a specimen of it if there is any merit in applying these and many other simples [sic] to the benefit of the poor wretches here, I certainly claim it, being the first who discovered and recommended them". [Copy of letter received by Dr Anthony Hamiltion, from Dennis Considen, 18 November, 1788, and sent onto Joseph Banks. [http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/banks/series_23/23_26.cfm] ] Considen dispatched an oil sample for further evaluation in England on the return voyage of the "Golden Grove" in 1788. [Mackern, H.H.G., Research into the volitile oils of the Australian flora, 1788-1967. In: "A Century of Scientific Progress", pp310-331. Centenary Vol., Royal Society of New South wales. Science Society House, Sydney, 1968.] [Small, B.E.J., Assessing the Australian "Eucalyptus" oil industry. "Forest and Timber", 13, pp13-16, 1977. ] John White, Surgeon General to the Colony, is also credited with the discovery, in documenting the matter [ Lassak, E.V., & McCarthy, T., "Australian Medinal Plants", Methuen Australia, 1983, p15, ISBN 0 454 00438 9.] and organizing oil samples to be sent back to England. [ White, J., "Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales", 1790. [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301531h.html] ] The surgeons initially based their assumptions of the medicinal properties of "E.piperita" from the similarity of its fragrance to English peppermint.

Distribution and habitat

"E. piperita" occurs in the tablelands and coastal areas of central and southern New South Wales,, especially on the sides of valleys.cite book | author = Beadle, N. C. W., O. D. Evans and R. C. Carolin | year = 1972 | title = Flora of the Sydney Region | location = Terrey Hills, Sydney | publisher = Reed | isbn = 0 589 07086 X]

References

wikisourcepar|A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland/Eucalyptus robusta|A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland/Eucalyptus robusta