Eucalyptus pulchella white peppermint

Eucalyptus pulchella at the (relocated) Griffin-Drell House. Sairus Patel, 2 Oct 2018

Dry fruit capsules of Eucalyptus pulchella on Raimundo Way. Large cluster on top has 20 or more fruit. Sairus Patel, 7 Jul 2020

White peppermint is a distinguished ornamental with a smooth lightcolored trunk and branches, growing to about 40 feet. Its lanceolate leaves are only about ¼ inch wide and around 4 inches long, and distinctly more delicate than the leaves of E. nicholii, the willow-leaved peppermint. The leaves of both, when crushed, have the scent of piperitone (a liquid unsaturated cyclic ketone of camphoraceous odor found in various essential oils and used chiefly in making menthol and thymol).

The small flower buds, which come in clusters of 9 to 15+, have a hemispherical cap that gives them a stubby club shape. The seed capsules are about ¼ inch across, have a flat rim, and typically four depressed openings inside.

Leaves and bark of Eucalyptus pulchella at 563 Salvatierra Walk. Sairus Patel, 2 Oct 2018

Eucalyptus pulchella at 563 Salvatierra Walk. Sairus Patel, 2 Oct 2018

There are two large specimens viewable behind the fence on the west side of Raimundo Way, between Tolman Lane and Peter Coutts Road. Only one remains of three at the southeast corner of 563 Salvatierra Walk (its companions may have been removed during the 2006 Munger Graduate Residences construction). See another handsome one nearby, at the southeast corner of the Griffin-Drell House (itself relocated as a result of the Munger construction) at 556 O’Connor Lane. The swollen lignotuber at its base is clearly visible. A small straggly specimen is a few feet north of the magnificent E. cylindrocarpa on Raimundo Way opposite Wing Place (location).

Related material: Eucalyptus checklist.