THE GENUS 



EUCALYPTUS 



NATURAL ORDER 



Myrtaceae. 



This Genus was first named Aromadendron by Dr. William Anderson, the 

 surgeon of Captain Cook's second and third expeditions, when collecting with 

 Captain Furneaux in Tasmania, where Hobart now stands. According to 

 Mueller, the first species named was a " Stringybark," now known as E. obliqua. 



The name Eucalyptus was bestowed by L'Heritier in [788 (Sert. Ang] 

 r8, t. 20), the word being derived from the Greek ev "well," and koKvttto} 

 1 rover," in allusion to the operculum or lid which covers the calyx until the 

 stamens are t'ulh developed. 



Robert Brown gave the not inappropriate appellation of Eudesmia to 

 the genus in [814; but, of course, tin- name is synonymised by the rule oi 

 priority. 



Still later another name was proposed, i.e., that of Symphyomyrtus, 1>\ 

 Schauer, in 1844. 



The trees are evergreen, either tall and of enormous height, or dwarfed 

 shrubs, when they are known as " Malices. " 



The bark is variable in its nature and texture, being either rough, 

 furrowed, or smooth, features which are more fully described under each bark 

 illusti ation. 



The leaves, as a general rule, are larger on young tree-, or adventitious 

 shoots, than (in mature trees, whilst in some species the\ are firsl opposite and 

 sessile, and then alternate and petiolate. The usual shape is lanceolate, falcate, 

 and. being fixed vertically instead oi horizontally, give less shade from the sun's 

 rays than most trees. They also possess the power oi twisting on the petiole, 

 probably for the purpose oi exposing the thicker cuticle oi the leai to the sun, 

 and thus minimising the volatilisation oi oil. 



(til glands an pi enf in the leaves oi almosl every species, being ver\ 

 prom »un< ed in t hose oi 51 rme groups. 



The inflon 31 1 n< 1 1- either axillai \ pi tei mil 



