BLUE GUM 



No. 107. BLUE GUM. (of Tasmania) Eucalyptus 



Globulus. Lab. 

 PLATE VIII. FIG. 69. 



Natural Order. Myrtaceae. 



Synonym. E. globulosus. St. Laz. 



Alternative Names. Grey Gum : Bastard Box in N.S.W. 

 Kurpoora maram in Madras (37). . The Blue Gum of Queensland 

 and N.S.W. mentioned by Bailey is E. tereticornis. Sm., and that 

 of Western Australia cited by J. Ednie-Brown is E. megacarpa. 



Sources of Supply. Australia in Victoria, rare in N. S. Wales : 

 South Tasmania. Introduced into Europe, N. Africa, N. 

 America, India and S. Africa. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight, 43-54 Ibs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 2, compare Boxwood. Smell dur- 

 ing working like acetic acid. Taste astringent. Burns well, 

 embers glow in still air. Solution with water pale brown. 



Grain. Moderately fine and open. Surface bright, the 

 pores dull. 



Bark. " Fibrous, deciduous " (37). 



Uses, etc. " Beams, railway-sleepers, piers, bridges, keels, 

 keelsons, fences. Very durable. Liable to warp and often un- 

 sound in the heart " (60). "Difficult to work, tenacious : . . . 

 the least valuable of the Eucalypti " (69). " Strong and durable : 

 . . . equal to English Oak in transverse strength " (85). Splits 

 readily and cleanly. I have met with hidden cavities in this wood 

 where the fibres have been torn asunder by the shrinkage while 

 drying. 



Authorities. Gamble (37), p. 188. Nordlinger (86), vol. vi. 

 p. 18. Laslett (60), p. 243. Holtzapffel (48), p. 86 (as E. 

 piperita ?). Newbery (83). Mathieu (69), p. 189. Nilson 



(85), P- 63. 



Colour. Pale straw : pinkish : brownish. Sap-wood reddish- 

 white. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



Pores. Readily visible, size 3, medium, variable, and in- 

 creasing in size as the tree ages : in loose, oblique, straggling 

 lines leaning to the right in some rings and to the left in others : 

 few, 5-24 per sq. mm. In narrow rings too crowded to show 

 the true arrangement, and more numerous, 8-40 per sq. mm. 

 Rarely two in contact, almost invariably single : appear white 

 in the solid. 



Rays. Difficult to see with lens, size 5-6, uniform : equi- 

 distant, less than the width of a pore apart, avoiding or running 

 closely round the pores : numerous, about 17 per mm. : larely 

 tapering : less dense than the ground-tissue. 



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