Eucalyptus, a tree from overseas, has been growing since it was introduced to the mainland.
As of 2018, eucalyptus has been planted on 5.46 million square hectares.
The introduction of eucalyptus has created great economic value for the mainland.
However, among the people, everyone calls eucalyptus "the tree of the dead country" and "the tree of cutting off children and grandchildren", and many people will avoid it when they see it.
Why does eucalyptus have such a title? Why do people hate eucalyptus? And why do you want to expand the planting while scolding?
Eucalyptus was introduced to China
When we think of eucalyptus, the first thing that comes to mind is Australia.
The koala, an endemic species in Australia, lives on eucalyptus leaves.
There are also many eucalyptus trees in the mainland, especially in Guangxi and Guangdong, but eucalyptus is not a native species of the mainland, but was introduced in 1890.
At that time, eucalyptus trees were introduced mainly for landscaping.
Since its introduction, eucalyptus has been planted in a large area.
In the fifties of the last century, eucalyptus trees began to be planted on a large scale in Guangxi and other regions of the mainland.
The reason for the expansion of planting is that eucalyptus trees grow quickly and can produce wood efficiently, and eucalyptus trees were once known as the "green gold of the paper industry".
Because the planting of eucalyptus forests and the processing of eucalyptus trees require manpower, the number of jobs in eucalyptus planting areas has also increased a lot, so in the mainland, the planting area of eucalyptus trees is also increasing.
However, as the area of eucalyptus trees grows larger, everyone finds that eucalyptus trees are not as good as everyone thinks.
Eucalyptus even began to have the names of "Dead Country Tree", "Lack of Virtue Tree", and "Broken Children and Grandchildren Tree" among the people.
Why is this a statement? Why did the eucalyptus tree change from a cash cow to an unpopular tree?
Why is eucalyptus called "offspring tree"?
Eucalyptus trees are not popular for several reasons.
First of all, the strong ability to absorb water leads to desertification of the soil in the growing area
Eucalyptus is a fast-growing tree and has a strong ability to absorb water, which can be described as a "water absorber".
Most of the eucalyptus trees on the mainland are planted in hilly areas, which generally have a source of drinking water for local residents.
As eucalyptus trees are planted in larger areas, so does the amount of water absorbed by eucalyptus trees.
There was a shortage of water that would have been enough for everyone to drink, but there was a shortage of eucalyptus trees.
Local villagers have found that the larger the eucalyptus plantation, the more difficult it is to find a natural water source, which is essential for humans.
The depletion of water resources will lead to many very serious consequences, drinking water can also be solved, but other plants are unable to obtain water due to the desertification of the land, which affects the harmony of the regional environment.
Eucalyptus trees are hated because of their ability to absorb water.
In addition to being too strong in absorbing water, which can lead to the depletion of local water resources, another thing that eucalyptus is hated is that its ability to consume fertilizer is more exaggerated than that of other plants.
Trees need to draw nutrients from the soil to grow, but many eucalyptus planting areas have found that the fertility of the local mountain and hilly soils has decreased dramatically after planting eucalyptus.
There are even some areas where eucalyptus trees are planted in large areas, and soil erosion has occurred.
This is a big hidden danger for local environmental protection and sustainable development.
After all, land is a resource that people rely on for their livelihood, and if eucalyptus trees lose their ability to nurture plants because of their cultivation, then even if the economic value of eucalyptus trees is high, it will be a loss-making transaction.
Because of this, some people are very opposed to the cultivation of eucalyptus trees in the area.
It is also for this reason that everyone gave eucalyptus trees the nickname of "Broken Offspring and Grandchildren".
The emergence of the above two problems has made eucalyptus very unpopular.
The argument that eucalyptus trees may be poisonous has lowered the status of eucalyptus in the hearts of the Chinese people again.
Eucalyptus trees are planted in Guangxi, and many Guangxi locals have found that there are almost no other plants growing around eucalyptus trees except eucalyptus.
There is no grass on the ground around the eucalyptus tree, which makes many people speculate that the eucalyptus tree may be poisonous, which is why the surrounding plants cannot grow.
As the myth that eucalyptus trees are poisonous spread, superstitious villagers even believe that if a woman drinks the water that flows from the eucalyptus tree, she will not be able to give birth to a boy.
It is true that eucalyptus trees are poisonous in the past, but after research by scientists, it has been found that eucalyptus trees themselves are not poisonous. Both stems and leaves are non-toxic.
The reason why there is no grass around eucalyptus trees is actually because of a special reaction of eucalyptus.
Eucalyptus trees have an "allelopathic substance" inside them, and the presence of this substance makes it difficult for plants other than eucalyptus to grow.
Therefore, there are no weeds around the eucalyptus tree, which makes the villagers mistakenly think that the eucalyptus tree is poisonous.
It is also these three reasons that eucalyptus trees have always been unpopular, but even if eucalyptus trees are not poisonous, the damage to water and soil is real.
So why do we scold while planting at the same time?
The economic value of eucalyptus
As we mentioned earlier, eucalyptus grows fast and is an ideal raw material for the paper industry.
Compared to other trees, eucalyptus is more productive as wood.
In other words, the use of eucalyptus for papermaking can effectively protect other trees in the mainland, improve the growth cycle of other trees, and reduce the harvesting of natural trees.
In addition, eucalyptus planting will not only bring new employment opportunities to local villagers, but also add more jobs to the local wood processing industry.
This can help villagers get rid of poverty and become rich in some areas with relatively backward economic development and relatively few development paths.
Because of this, even though there are many bad evaluations of eucalyptus among the people, eucalyptus cultivation has continued to expand over the years.
In fact, after eucalyptus is planted, the reason why water resources are depleted and soil fertility is reduced is because there are problems in planting.
Previously, eucalyptus trees were planted in many areas, which was unscientific.
Moreover, whenever the eucalyptus tree is ready to be cut down, many areas also use the whole tree harvesting method.
In this way, the eucalyptus trees are only taken away from the surface, and the root system of the eucalyptus trees remains in the ground.
Planting eucalyptus trees in the next step will only cause secondary damage to the land.
In addition, in many eucalyptus planting areas, in order to harvest more eucalyptus trees in a short period of time, the planting density will be very high. This will undoubtedly lead to a further decline in the fertility of the soil, which in turn will lead to soil erosion.
That is, eucalyptus cultivation leads to the destruction of water resources and soil, and in fact can be controlled with a certain amount of human intervention.
Not only that, eucalyptus can also absorb carbon dioxide, which is also very good for protecting the environment.
On the whole, eucalyptus planting is a combination of advantages and disadvantages, as long as scientific planting, scientific planning, can avoid the above problems.
[Disclaimer] The content and pictures of the article are from the Internet, this article aims to advocate positive social energy, no vulgarity and other bad guidance. If it involves copyright or character infringement issues, please contact us in time, and we will delete the content as soon as possible! If there is any suspicious part of the incident, delete or change it immediately after contacting!