EUCALYPTUS 573 



22. Eucalyptus foecuuda, Schauer. 



A whnib or sma!l tree with dark green foliage and darkisii .smooth bark 

 f^hedding in cartilaginous lamellae. Wood hard and elastic. Western Australia, 

 chiefly on limestone, but also on sandy plains with a calcareous substratum. 

 Grown in the Nilgiris, but rare ; Sim's Park (R. Bourne). 



23. Eucalyptus Globulus, Labill. Blue gum. 



A very large tree, with a tall straight clean bole when grown under forest 

 conditions, but often tending to branch freely when grown in the open. Bark 

 constantly decorticating in brown strips of varying length, showing the young 

 smooth greyish or bluish white bark ; sometimes almost wholly persistent, 

 and often rough at the base of the stem. The tree can be recognized by the 

 quadrangular branchlets, the warty glandular calyx covered by a crown-shaped 

 lid, and the characteristic leaves of seedlings and young coppice-shoots, which 

 are opposite, sessile, cordate or cordate-ovate, covered with a bluish-white 

 bloom and strongly impregnated with a gummy aromatic oil ; the stems of 

 seedlings and young coppice-shoots are sharply quadrangular. Primordial 

 leaves are also produced by adult trees which have been injured by fire or 

 otherwise, and a burnt plantation has a characteristic silvery appearance. In 

 the Nilgiris ripe seed may be collected about May, but the seed does not fall 

 naturally until about July-August. Samples of Nilgiri seed gave 6,500 to 

 9,400 per oz. ; fresh seed gave the highest percentage of fertility, that kept 

 for one year germinating fairly well, and that kept for two years germinating 

 poorly. Fertile seed is produced at an early age : seed collected from 

 coppice-shoots nine years old in the Nilgiris in 1912 showed a fertility of 

 47 per cent. 



The wood is hard, heavy, and strong, and in its native home is con- 

 sidered durable, though not among the most durable of eucalypt timbers ; it 

 is much used for house-building (joists, rafters, &c.), ship-building, carriage- 

 building, &c. In the Nilgiris it has an indifferent reputation as timber, owing 

 to its tendency to warp and split, but has proved to be fairly durable and is 

 used for fence-posts. Possibly its poor reputation is due to some extent to 

 the employment of timber from immature trees, for in some cases timber of 

 fair quality has been yielded by large-sized trees. So far as Indian experience 

 goes, however, there is not at present sufficient justification for planting the 

 blue gum on an extensive scale as a timber tree. In the Nilgiris it is the 

 principal source of fuel supply, and owing to its rapid growth and high yield 

 it is eminently suitable for cultivation as a fuel tree. 



The blue gum is a native of Tasmania, Victoria, and New South Wales, 

 where it occurs chiefly in the humid regions, in valleys as well as on ridges 

 and mountain slopes ; while common in most parts of Tasmania it is most 

 plentiful in the south, but it does not ascend to alpine elevations. The blue 

 gum has been more extensively planted than any other eucalypt in extra- 

 tropical regions throughout the globe, its first introduction into southern 

 Europe dating from the early part of last century. It was among the earliest 

 of the eucalypts introduced into India, probably about 1843, when the first 

 attempts were made to cultivate these trees in the Nilgiris. 



The blue gum grows best in a moderately cool moist equable climate on 

 deep fertile soil. It will endure excessive moisture, though not the equal of 



