Post-eucalyptus
- A eucalyptus tree asks itself if it is a native tree. Well, yes, in Tasmania. There, I noticed that the branches of eucalyptus move differently, almost as if they had free will. By contrast, in Chile and other countries, where “they” organize eucalyptus monoculture like a homogeneous mass, all of them are the same height, the same form, the same distance from each other. How far have the eucalyptus trees traveled to different zones in the world, and why?1 Who organized that massive displacement of eucalyptus around the planet?
- For instance, even though eucalyptus is not a native tree in Chile—as in many other countries around the world—people have adopted the use of its leaves for medicinal purposes, to ease breathing in winter (especially for asthma), and to keep flies away. Similarly, putting the eucalyptus seed pods inside handkerchiefs can help retain their fresh aroma during the flu. But are these healthy aspects of eucalyptus also a matter of speculation?
- The impact of eucalyptus is very clear when you look around them in a monoculture zone and notice how dry the soil looks. A eucalyptus tree deserves a better life... monoculture is so boring, and... malaria2 sounds weird in Spanish too: “mala” and “ria”... bad female river... also a speculative translation.
Mount Field National Park, Tasmania, 2018 (Photo: Eduardo Cruces)
1 Semih Çelik and Christina Luke, “Of Wetlands and Reclamation Regimes: Climate Change, Social Upheaval, and Political Practice in Western Anatolia in the Long Nineteenth Century,” Winds of Change: Environment and Society in Anatolia, eds. Christopher H. Roosevelt and John Haldon, Istanbul: Koç University Press, 2022.
2 Chris Gratien, “The Ottoman Quagmire: Malaria, Swamps, and Settlement in the Late Ottoman Mediterranean,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 49, No. 4, 2017, pp. 583-604. Accessed: 02.12.2025, www.jstor.org.