Great Southland – glistening gumleaves

Acrylic on canvas
61cm x 61cm

The prophesy spoken by de Queirós declared Australia to be the Great Southland of the Holy Spirit. This is the destiny of our beautiful country, and something we should remember, celebrate and cherish. We have both a magnificent heritage and destiny.

For me, the Eucalypt is a symbol of the Great Southland and her people. I love the fragrance of the Eucalypt forest around our “home among the gum trees” – and this fragrance of the Australian bush is apparently evident from way out at sea, even before the mainland becomes visible. Eucalypt leaves were mailed to our servicemen posted in foreign lands, bringing the nostalgic fragrance and symbol of home into their hands. The medicinal properties and benefits of Eucalyptus are numerous, and include antibiotic, antiseptic and respiratory assistance.

In our home, cleaning always includes the fresh smell of Eucalyptus oil used to wash the floors, disinfect the bins and drains, or inhibit mould growth on furniture in the humidity of summer – and for my grown-up children who have left home, it brings back memories as they joke about the overpowering odour of cleaning days. There was one occasion when my floor disinfectant mixture (Eucalyptus and Tee Tree oil in hot water) was so strong that it set off the fire alarm, but that’s another story…

The latest research has shown that Eucalypts have the capacity to draw up gold out of the ground, evidenced by traces found within Eucalyptus leaves. This I find thrilling, because it’s so obviously a national treasure in more ways than one! Geoscientists in Perth discovered gold particles in the leaves, twigs and bark of eucalyptus trees, which lead to further research and new discoveries. Dr Melvyn Lintern, a research geochemist at the CSIRO, and the study’s lead author, said they believe the trees, sitting on top of gold deposits about 30 meters underground, suck up the gold in their search for moisture during times of drought, and that the trees appear to be telling scientists what is happening under the earth’s surface. The research group used the CSIRO’s Maia detector for x-ray elemental imaging at the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne to analyse extremely small particles at high resolution, revealing that the portions of gold are about one-fifth the diameter of a human hair. Dr Lintern said, “As far as we know, this is the first time that anyone has seen gold in any biological tissue and it just happens to be a Eucalypt leaf.”

This Great Southland treasure of ours is touched with pure gold.