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
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Square Tower House in Mesa Verde National Park
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Playa del Amor, Marietas Islands, Mexico
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Burchells zebras for International Zebra Day
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We re gonna need a bigger birdhouse
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And they’re off!
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Once upon a time there was a bridge…
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A different view of sharks
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The roots of invention
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Are you older than this lake?
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Exploring the Pearl of the Atlantic
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Stari Most in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Looking back on 150 years of rail travel
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Row, row, row your gondola
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Ski touring in Austria
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Did they forget to fly south?
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Rainbow Mountain
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Sanday Island and the North Sea, Scotland
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Fly me to the moon
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Castle Day in Japan
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Lighting the way to new beginnings
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Tesla, the visionary
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Bald cypress trees in Georgia
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Presidents Day
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Kinder Scout, Peak District National Park, England
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Womens History Month
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Pretty, pretty…butterfly?
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Smoking nights in Austria
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Perseid meteor shower over Oregon
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A grotesque scene
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75th anniversary of the Spruce Goose