24 EUCALYPTUS. 



in introducing new species of Eucalyptus, has a number 

 of sketches in color of the flowers of the ornamental 

 Eucalyptus ficifolia, introduced for its brilliant red flowers. 

 These sketches were largely of flowers from trees growing 

 from seed gathered by himself from Eucalyptus ficifolia in 

 his own nursery. The difference in the colors is radical, 

 from pale orange yellow to deep red. The foliage in these 

 ficifolias also varies greatly. 



I am, however, not ready to accept these results as due 

 to hybridization. Natural variation under new conditions 

 and careless seed handling must be considered in the solu- 

 tion. Stengel's robusta is not the true robusta but a 

 variety. 



The blue gum is the best all round tree within its cli- 

 matic range. It makes fire wood and timber fast; growing 

 rapidly into an effective wind-break, contains a large 

 amount of essential oil in its foliage ; its leaves are 

 amongst the most efficient agents in cleaning out the in- 

 rrustatioii of boilers. It is available for the medicinal pre- 

 paration of Eucalyptol and is altogether the best tree 

 for any considerable range of condition in semi-tropic cli- 

 mates as far as now known. The introduction of this tree 

 has done more to change radically the appearance of w 7 ide 

 ranges of country in California than any other one thing. 

 In the reclamation of many arid plains of the central and 

 southern parts of California the blue gum has worked 

 almost like magic. It modifies the winds, breaks the 

 lines of view all 'so quickly that one can scarcely realize 

 that a valley of clustered woods and lines of trees was 

 but a year or two before a brown parched expanse of 

 shadeless summer dust. I do not think that the power of 

 the blue gum in modifying the appearance of a country can 



