PRINCIPAL SPECIES OF EUCALYPTS GROWN IN AMERICA. 63 



fornia the wood is being extensively and successfulh' used for insu- 

 lator pins. It is also being used with success in the manufacture of 

 parts of agricultural implements (harvesters, etc.) and the handles of 

 plumbers' and carpenters' tools, for which purposes it is considered 

 almost, if not quite, equal to hickor3\ 



Eucalyptus gomphocephala. 



Too ART. 



Characteristics. — The tree is rather stocky and is usually symmetrical. 

 At Mr. Ellwood Cooper's ranch it has attained a height of SO feet in 

 twenty-four years. (PI. XXIV.) The bark of the trunk is dark gray, 

 rough, and persistent. From the branches the bark flakes oft" in strips, 

 leaving the surface smooth and light-colored. The twigs are reddish 

 yellow. The leaves are thick and shining and somewhat leathery, the 

 upper surface being darker than the lower. The flowers are of large 

 size. The stalk of the flower clusters is flattened, the flowers them- 

 selves being stemless. The hemispheric lid of the unopened bud is 

 broader than the part below, giving the buds the appearance of pegs, 

 the specitic name gomphocephala being the (xreek for "peg-head." 

 The seed cases are top-shaped, bell-shaped, or hemispherical, and are 

 one-half to three- fourths of an inch broad. (See PI. LXI.) 



Climatic requirements. — The Tooart thrives along the coast and does 

 fairly well in the dry interior valleys. It has not been grown exten- 

 sively enough yet to determine definitely what degrees of heat and 

 cold it will endure in America. 



Uses. — The tree furnishes a heavy wood that is very tough and 

 strong — one of the strongest timbers in the world. The grain is so 

 close and curled or twisted that it is not easily split. The timl)er is 

 used principally in shipbuilding and for bridges. It is very durable 

 in all kinds of weather and in a great variety of situations. 



Eucalyptus goniocalyx. 



Characteristics. — This tree commonly attains a good size, in some 

 situations in Australia reaching a height of 800 feet, with a diameter 

 of 6 to 10 feet. At Mr. Cooper's ranch the trees in a grove twenty 

 years old range from 8 to 18 inches in diameter. (PI. XXA', a.) The 

 bark is commonly persistent, but in some cases flakes ofl'; the character 

 of its surface also varies. 



On the young tree, and on sprouts from the trunk, the leaves are 

 opposite, heart-shaped or kidney -shaped, and broadly oval. (See PI. 

 LXXXIV, B.) The leaves of the adult trees are long and quite slen- 

 der, the two sides being similarly colored. The flowers are nearly 

 stemless, in small clusters borne on flattened stalks. The seed cases 

 are nearly cup-shaped, and are usuallv more or less angled. (See PI. 

 LXII.) 



