Hold the tinsel—the rainbow eucalyptus tree doesn"t need decorations to appear festive for the holidays. Its bark displays a palette of bright colors by design. As older layers of bark peel away in strips, new layers packed with green chlorophyll are revealed. These exposed areas eventually transition to hues of blue, purple, and orange as tannins accumulate. The continual peeling allows the tree to shed mosses, lichen, fungi, or parasites along with the bark, while also exposing the chlorophyll underneath, which boosts the tree"s ability to photosynthesize. The bark isn"t the only unusual thing about this species. While most people associate eucalyptus with koalas and Australia, the rainbow eucalyptus is native to the Philippines and Indonesia. It thrives in tropical climates like Hawaii, where our homepage trees were photographed.
Tree of many colors
Today in History
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Modica, Sicily, Italy
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Mountain mists over Bavaria
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National Bird Day
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You ve never seen anything like this
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Quilts as high art
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Juniper Springs, Florida
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Put your flippers in the air…
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Great hornbill, Thailand
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Extraterrestrial Culture Day
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A ‘Superior’ paddle
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Pretty poetic for a pit
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Oud-West, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Hoisting a flag for seafarers
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Happy Easter!
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Let the Highland games begin
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The roots of invention
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A festival of lights in India
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A holiday beacon of light
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Don’t get lost in there
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Cosplay strongly encouraged
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Pegadung Rock, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia
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The dancing trees of Sumba Island
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Veterans Day
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Berlin Festival of Lights
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The most wonderful day of the year. Period.
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North Sea at sunset, Norddorf, Germany
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Exploring the wilder side of New York
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Tough turf
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Party like it’s 5779
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Santorini, Greece