The leaves are leathery and hang obliquely or vertically. The flower petals cohere to form a cap when the flower expands. The fruit is surrounded by a woody, cup-shaped receptacle and contains numerous minute seeds. Possibly the largest fruits--from 5 to 6 centimeters (2 to 2.5 inches) in diameter--are borne by E. macrocarpa, also known as the mottlecah, or silverleaf, eucalyptus.
The eucalypti grow rapidly, and many species attain great height. E. regnans, the giant gum tree or mountain ash of Victoria and Tasmania, attains a height of about 90 metros (300 feet) and a circumference of 7.5 m
