A large and important genus of Australian forest trees; includes about 500 species in the family Myrtaceae. Only two species occur naturally outside Australia in the adjacent islands. Eucalypts occur throughout Australia except in coastal tropical and subtropical rainforests in Queensland and New South Wales and in temperate rainforests in Victoria and Tasmania. They are confined to water courses in the extensive arid zones of central and northwest Australia. Eucalypts grow from sea level to tree line (6600 ft or 2000 m).