EUCALYPTI. 1 8 1 



southern temperate zone, but if we go to Australia we 

 shall find in the noble eucalypti (there called "gum 

 trees ") worthy rivals of the giant Sequoias. 



These remarkable trees give quite a special charac- 

 ter to Australian scenery, and undoubtedly constitute 

 the most notable feature among the vegetable products 

 of that continent: their sombre bluish green foliage, 

 and peculiar tough sabre-like form of leaf, at once 

 attract attention when contrasted with that of other 

 trees, as we find in Egypt and Algeria, where many 

 varieties of eucalypti are now grown from seed imported 

 from Australia, and form noble looking trees, which 

 grow with immense rapidity. 



The banks of rivers and watercourses in Australia 

 are generally bordered by eucalypti, which often 

 attain a gigantic size, and grow to a height of more 

 than 250 feet, with a girth of from 12 to 20 feet* 

 The natural habit of these trees (which belong to the 

 family of the Myrtacece) is to shoot up straight as an 

 arrow, with comparatively few large branches; and 

 they bear blossoms like a myrtle, the flowers being 

 mostly of a pinkish or yellowish white colour. But 

 there are numerous varieties, f and eucalypti are so 

 plentiful in Australia, that they compose almost four- 

 fifths of the forests. Some are of dwarf habit, but 

 other grow to a truly gigantic size and vie with the 

 Wellingtonia (Sequoia Gigantea) of California for the 

 honour of being the largest trees in the world, a claim 



* Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel for Australia, 

 Edited by Alfred R. Wallace, 1879, p. 40. 



f The Eucalyptus Felicifolia or fern-leafed eucalyptus of S.W. Australia 

 is an example of a variety bearing magnificent trusses of crimson flowers. 



Outlines of the Geography of Plants, by Professor F. J. F. Meyen, 

 of the University of Berlin, 1846, p. 137. 



