The term cut foliage describes the material used as part of floral decorations either to create lines or as a filler. A range of temperate evergreen shrub plants with green, silver or variegated leaves, tropical plants and ferns are used as cut foliage. There has been a significant increase in the use of cut foliage in association with flowers in bouquets over the past decade due to the 'green' image presented by such products.    Foliage Of the many species cultivated for cut foliage in Europe, the genera Eucalyptus, Pittosporum and Ozothamnus form the core of production in Ireland. Eucalyptus Eucalyptus is a genus of evergreen trees native to Australia and comprises some 500 species and is a member of the Myrtacea. They vary in size from low shrubs and stunted trees to large trees 10m tall. The foliage is often green, although many species grown for foliage are grey-green in colour. Many species posses lignotubers, a swelling at the base of the seedling, composed of tissue capable of producing buds when the tree is coppiced, or damaged by fire. Eucalypts are widely planted in New Zealand, South America, the Mediterranean and Africa for a long term forest crop, short rotation forest crop, for biomass and essential oil production. Approximately 25 species are commonly grown in Europe for cut foliage. In Ireland, since the industry has begun to develop, several species have been cultivated, the most important being E.pulverulenta, E.parvifolia, E.glaucescens, E. perreniana, E.rubida, E.mouri-nana, and E.gunnii. Other species are grown in smaller quantity. http://hg.women.com/homeandgarden/plants/eucacine.htm http://www.botany.com/eucalyptus.html http://wwwlibrary.csustan.edu/bsantos/section1.htm#EUCALYPTUS Pittosporum Pittosporum tenuifolium was first introduced in New Zealand circa 1850. The genus Pittosporum Solander (Pittosporaceae) comprises some 200 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, chiefly native to Australasia. Pittosporum tenuifolium occurs in lowland to montane forest as a single or multi-stemmed tree up to 10 m in height, but is most frequently grown as a hedge or shrub and attains a height of 10m. The pale green leaves 3-4 cm in length are borne on well furnished stems which are long lasting in water making it useful as a cut foliage item in the floristry business. http://www.botany.com/pittosporum.html http://hg.women.com/homeandgarden/plants/pitttobi.htm Ozothamnus Ozothamnus is in the genus Helichrysum which is native to Australasia. Ozothamnus rosmarinafolia 'Silver Jubilee' is now widely used in landscape plantings in the British Isles. The cultivar has been grown for cut foliage purposes since 1995. The needle-like foliage, which is long lasting in arrangements, make it ideal for that purpose.