Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus doesn't tolerate fire - it weaponizes it.
Eucalyptus doesn't tolerate fire - it weaponizes it. While most plants treat fire as existential threat, eucalyptus evolved in Australia's fire-prone landscapes to make fire an ally. Some species fill their leaves with flammable oil and shed their bark in strips, turning themselves into kindling. When fire comes - and it always comes - they burn hot and fast, clearing competitors while their own seeds germinate in the ash.
This isn't passive adaptation; it's active niche construction. Eucalyptus seeds require heat shock of 50-100°C to crack their seed coats - they literally can't germinate without fire. After the burn, the parent tree regenerates from dormant buds hidden beneath thick bark (epicormic sprouting) and from base resprouts (coppicing), giving it dual recovery pathways. Meanwhile, the seeds exploit the cleared, nutrient-rich, sun-drenched post-fire environment where competition has been incinerated.
The strategy works because eucalyptus can move water faster than almost any other tree - 1,000+ gallons per day, ten times what an oak manages. This lets them grow aggressively in the post-fire window before slower competitors recover. The lesson: some organizations don't just survive disruption - they trigger it, knowing they'll recover faster than everyone else. When you control the timing and nature of the crisis, you transform threat into moat.
Notable Traits of Eucalyptus
- Fire-tolerant
- Rapid post-fire regrowth
- Co-evolved with fire
- Fire-dependent germination
- 1,000+ gallons/day water transport
- Highest xylem capacity among common trees
- Multiple regeneration pathways
- Epicormic buds beneath bark
- Some species promote fire
Eucalyptus Appears in 4 Chapters
Fire-tolerant Australian tree with rapid post-fire regrowth, demonstrating disturbance adaptation co-evolved with frequent fire in a different ecosystem than North American conifers.
Fire Adaptation Strategies →Seeds germinate after bushfires when heat shock of 50-100°C cracks the seed coat. This fire-adapted strategy exploits cleared, nutrient-rich, sun-exposed post-fire conditions.
Heat Shock Germination →Demonstrates exceptionally high water transport rates - 1,000+ gallons per day, 10x that of oak trees - showing the upper limits of xylem transport capacity.
Extreme Water Transport →Multiple regeneration strategies: resprouting from base (coppicing) and epicormic sprouting from dormant buds beneath bark. Some species have flammable oil and bark that promotes fire, clearing competition.
Dual Regeneration Pathways →