Eucalyptus is basically an Australian variety of timber. It has been divided into about 600 to 700 species depending on its classification. Most of these species still grow in the wild in Australia. Such eucalyptus forests cover an estimated area of about 125 million hectares. In India, this Australian species was first introduced during the British Raj in 1853 in the Neelgiri Hills of Tamilnadu. In 1995, eucalyptus plantations occupied an area of about 11-12 million hectares in the world. As per the estimate for the year 2002 there is about 15-16 million hectare area under eucalyptus plantations all over the world. The species most commonly planted throughout the world for industrial purposes are eucalyptus globulus and eucalyptus grandis. In India, there is a trend planting eucalyptus tereticornis smith and camaldulnesis dehnh, which appear to give higher yield as compared to its conventional species and sub-species. Clones of eucalyptus are being developed in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.