IN CALIFORNIA 41 



shape borne on four-angled stems. With age, the 

 foliage takes on an entirely new aspect. The 

 fashion of youth is discarded for slender leathery 

 leaves of a sober green, sickle-shaped and hanging 

 stringily with one edge always towards the outer 

 light, from branches whose former uncompromising 

 squareness the contact with life has reduced to easy- 

 going roundness. It is from the fresh leaves and 

 twigs, principally of the blue gum, that the famous 

 oil of eucalyptus is extracted ; and blue gum leaves 

 made into teas or poultices, are among California 

 household remedies for troubles of the respiratory 

 organs. 



Shade Trees That Are Leafless and Others 



Also to Australia, California owes her acacia 

 trees, of which a score of evergreen species adorn 

 her streets, parks and roadways. They are famous 

 for their showy flowers, which though individually 

 tiny are borne in myriads of spherical clusters, and 

 in some varieties, as Acacia Baileyana and A. mol- 

 lissima, the blooming is so exuberant that the foli- 

 age is all but hidden under a rippling sheet of gold 

 during the time of inflorescence. This with most 

 species is in late winter and spring, and a pretty 

 sight on California highways at that season is af- 

 forded by carriages and automobiles decorated with 



