Eucalyptus is an Australian genus comprising of 140 species. They are evergreen species, all more or less aromatic and containing oil glands in their leaves. Mysore gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis), blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) and lemon-scented gum (Eucalyptus citriodora) are the important eucalyptus species grown in Kerala. Of these, Mysore gum and flooded gum are important timber species in the low- and mid-altitudinal zones of the state, respectively. The cultivation practices of these two species are described below.

E. grandis grows best in deep, permanently moist, well-drained soils. E. tereticornis also prefers moist and well-drained soils such as loamy sands or alluvial loams, with high nutrient availability. A certain degree of salinity is tolerated, but strongly acid soils are ill suited. E. tereticornis adapts to a variety of sites, but responds poorly to excessively long dry periods. It is very easy to regenerate both species and they are good coppicers. The number of seeds per kilogram for E. grandis is 2.5 million, whereby roughly 630 viable seeds can be expected per gram. In the case of E. tereticornis one gram contains approximately 540 seeds.