THE EUCALYPTUS IN THE FUTURE. 



669 



The one best known in experiments at acclimatizing is the blue-gum. 

 We have followed its growth from seeds planted by ourselves. Last 

 October we saw in the back-yard of Dr. R. E. Kunze, of this city, a 

 eucalypt scarcely a year old, and over twelve feet in height. For four 

 or five months it averaged an inch a day. Blue-gums but seven years 

 from the seed have been known to reach a height of sixty-five feet, 

 with a girth of stem near the ground of forty-five inches. 



But, for all this rapidity of growth, the young eucalypt seems to 

 be doggedly resolved that for some years at least it shall resemble its 

 parent in no particular save one, namely, the aromatic odor of its 

 leaves. 



Suppose we compare Figs. 3 and 4, the one representing a young 

 eucalypt, and the other an adult that is, one old enough to bear 

 flowers and seeds. Notice the stem of the young tree, Fig. 4, that it 



Fig. 4. Eucalyptus Globulus: a Young Tree. 



is square, or four-sided, like those of the labiates, or Mint family 

 of plants. On each side of this square stem is a depression, within 

 which the leaf is attached, which, technically, may be said to be am- 

 plexicaul, or embracing, as it half surrounds the stem, and this at 

 some disadvantage, since the attachment is not at the angle, but flush 

 upon the side of the stem. The leaf is sessile, having no appreciable 

 petiole or foot-stalk. And the leaves are opposite, so that each pair 

 is set at right angles, or crosswise to the pair next below it or next 

 above it. And the leaves are cordate, or heart-shaped, being deeply 



