An Ancestral Secret 



When the rapid growing eucalyptus tree pushes out its 



leaves it discloses one of the secrets of its ancestry. Some of 



the leaves, like those at the top of ttie branch pictured above, are 



narrow and long. Others, lower down, are much broader. On a single 



tree it is common to find five or six different kinds of leaves seeming, 



when laid side by side, as though they must have come from separate 



plants. The history of the eucalyptus, as disclosed by its leaves, its 



quick growth, and other characteristics, is that one time it was an herb 



— perhaps an annual. To flt themselves to some new environment, its 



ancestors succeeded in establishing themselves as perennials. But this 



change was so recent that the evidences of the transition are still 



to be found in the leaves of all young eucalyptus trees today. 



