UTILIZATION OF CALIFORNIA EUCALYPTS. Fi 
As a rule, blue gum grows erect; it branches low in isolated speci- 
mens, but in close plantings the crowns are small and the lower 
trunks fairly clean. It reaches its greatest development along the 
coast and im river bottoms where foggy days are common and the 
annual rainfall is at least 15 mches. This species when grown under 
favorable conditions ranks among the fastest growing trees of the 
world. The wood is yellowish white and easily polished. 
Red gum is of slower growth than blue gum and liable to produce a 
crooked trunk, even in close plantings. The wood varies in color 
Fig. 1.—Stand of blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) about 36 years old. Newark, Cal. 
from very light to dark blood red. It is capable of taking a very-fine 
polish, and can be cut into the thinnest of lumber and veneers. Red 
gum trees withstand frost better than blue gum, and the species is one 
of the most drought-resistant of the eucalypts of commercial value, 
although it is outranked in this respect by sugar gum. Although 
red gum has a slow height growth as compared with blue gum, in 
diameter growth it is one of the most rapid of all the eucalypts. 
Sugar gum in close planting grows erect with a very open crown. 
Isolated specimens generally have low scattering branches. The 
[Cir. 179] 
