The setting is New South Wales, more specifically an expansive forest of eucalyptus trees on the property of John Holland.

Mr. Holland is a widower who over the years has quite methodically planted hundreds of eucalpyt trees. He devotes himself to locating and transplanting every variety of species of this Australian native. His pleasure comes not in the trees themselves but rather their acquisition. And he takes great pride in his ability to accurately identify each of them. The only competition for his devotion is his daughter, Ellen.

As Ellen matures into a free spirited and beautiful woman, her father, realizing he will lose her, devises a test. He will give her hand in marriage to the first man who can correctly name every variety of eucalypt on his property. Many try, many fail. Then comes the eucalyptus expert, Mr. Cave, an orderly, serious and impeccably groomed man closer to her father's age than Ellen's.

Ellen, who at first dismissed her father's pronouncement as an impossible feat for any man but her father to achieve, grows concerned. She remembers his words - "do not trust any man." And she wonders if this admonition was meant to include fathers.