Variation in leaf oils of Eucalyptus nitens and E. denticulata

The chemical composition of the leaf oils of Eucalyptus nitens and E. denticulata trees grown in a provenance trial in Tasmania from seed collected from original Australian mainlan localities was examined. The composition of the adult leaf oils parallels the splitting of E. nitens into the two species, E. nitens and E. denticulata. The leaf oils of E. nitens were characterized by high levels of 1,8-cineole and α-pinene and E. denticulata by high levels of p-cymene andγ-terpinene. It was found that the oil yields from E. nitens juvenile leaves were significantly higher than that from the corresponding adult leaves for all source localities examined.