EARLY INTRODUCTION OF EUCALYPTS INTO FLORIDA. 13 



EARLY INTRODUCTION OF EUCALYPTS INTO FLORIDA. 



The date of the earliest plantation of eucalypts in Florida, so far 

 as can be determined authentically, was 1878, when Rev. A. H. White 

 planted some six or eight species at Georgiana, on Merritts Island. 

 He obtained the seed from some Government department in Wash- 

 ington, possibly from the Patent Office, which at that time distributed 

 seeds. 



Among the species which he tried were amygdalina, gonicalyx, 

 marginata, melliodora, rostrata, and stuartiana. Of these there re- 

 mains to-day only one tree, probably E. gonicalyx, which is over 2 

 feet in diameter and has resisted the severe gales to which it is ex- 

 posed, as well as the freeze of 1894-95. Up to 1893 E. rostrata 

 had made the best growth and was then over TO feet high; but in 

 that year, together with E. amygdalina, it was thrown in a heavy 

 windstorm. 



In the eighties some nurserymen, notably Reasoner Bros., at Oneco, 

 and the American Exotic Nurseries, at Seven Oaks, near Clearwater, 

 listed a number of eucalyptus species in their catalogues. The species 

 selected for planting in Florida were not made with any particular 

 reference to climate or soil conditions. There was no experience as 

 to the best time of planting nor the methods of handling the ex- 

 tremely tender seedlings. Very few trees survived, and those which 

 could be traced to these sources were chiefly in Manatee County. At 

 Seven Oaks specimens of E. resinifera and E. robusta still exist. The 

 E. resinifera measured 39.3 inches in diameter at breast-height and 

 was 80 feet high and only 18 years old at the time of this study. 

 (See PL III.) 



The severe frost in the winter of 1894-95, which proved so dis- 

 couraging to the orange growers, turned their attention to other 

 crops. Among the alternatives which then suggested themselves, 

 besides the production of garden truck, was the growing of eucalypts, 

 and a large number of the eucalyptus trees now growing in Florida 

 date from that suggestion. A peculiar coincidence in this connection 

 is that at about the same time that the planting of eucalypts began to 

 attract more attention, the local nurserymen practically discontinued 

 the handling of eucalyptus stock. Possibly they were discouraged 

 by the results of the frost, or found the stock more difficult to handle 

 than ordinary nursery plants. 



Most of the eucalypts have been planted for ornament or for shade ; 

 in a few cases as windbreaks for citrus orchards. It is only recently 

 that any attempt has been made to grow them for commercial pur- 

 poses. The introduction was often brought about by people from 

 California, or from Australia, who happened to visit Florida, or to 



