The Cajuput

Was loitering with a friend in the park one day when she brought to my notice a tall tree with a white bark which had leaves that released a very familiar fragrance when crushed. Eucalyptus-we concluded, not entirely convinced ourselves because the leaves were shaped very differently and the bark looked, well, odd.

Thereafter I saw those trees simply everywhere!

Typical Baader-Meinhof phenomenon!

And what more would I want than a label on one tree identifying it!

It is the Cajuput - a distant relative of the Eucalyptus - they both come from a family of plants called Myrtle. Myrtles are plants with leaves that release fragrant oils. The Cajuput, also sometimes called the bottlebrush tree or the paperbark tree (can easily be seen why from the photos), is as important as Eucalyptus in traditional systems of medicine. There is always an abundance of dry leaves on the ground near the tree but all I find of the flowers is a mangled mess. A tree was kind enough to grow a bough sufficiently low for my phone to photograph the flower.

The fragrance of the leaves, as I said, seemed familiar and I now know why - Cajuput oil is one of the key ingredients of Tiger Balm! Do crush a leaf when you find one and treasure the freshness the fragrance brings to the mind!

PS: To all my muggle friends who had a vision of a bespectacled, two-pony-tailed girl in a grandiose restroom while reading this writeup, the "common" Myrtle is a very commonly found and hence "oft-neglected" shrub. A Moaning Minnie is a habitually grumbling person. JKR knew what she was writing when Myrtle moaned, "Nobody missed me even when I was alive!" I digress too much