Blue Gum

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
The bark sheds often, peeling in large strips. The broad juvenile leaves are borne in opposite pairs on square stems. They are about 6 to 15 cm long and covered with a blue-grey, waxy bloom, which is the origin of the common name “blue gum”. The mature leaves are narrow, sickle-shaped and dark shining green. They are arranged alternately on rounded stems and range from 15 to 35 cm in length. The buds are top-shaped, ribbed and warty and have a flattened operculum (cap on the flower bud) bearing a central knob. The cream-colored flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils and produce copious nectar that yields a strongly flavoured honey. The fruits are woody and range from 1.5 to 2.5 cm in diameter. Numerous small seedsare shed through valves (numbering between 3 and 6 per fruit) which open on the top of the fruit. It produces roots throughout the soil profile, rooting several feet deep in some soils. They do not form taproots.
The oil acrid, bitter, astringent, thermogenic, oleagenous, antiseptic, deodorant, stimulant, anodyne, carminative, digestive, anthelmintic, cardiotonic, diuretic, sudorific, expectorant, insect repellent, rubefacient and antipyretic, and useful in vitiated conditiond of kapha and vata, halitosis, cephalagia, tuberculosis, chronic cough, asthma, pneumonosis, bronchitis, pyorrhoea, burns, dyspepsia, flatulence, thredworm infestation, cardiac debility, pharyngodynia, hoarseness, strangury an, skin diseases and chronic and intermittent fevers.
Internal use of the oil in excess will cause debility, vomiting and diarrhoea.