THE EUCALYPTS. 
69 
a privet hedge. This is one of the few Eucalypts 
that usually produces an annual crop of blossom. It 
may miss an odd season, but even that is not frequent. 
For that reason, and also on account of its remark- 
ably quick growth, it should certainly be largely 
planted where bees are kept. For, in addition to its 
other qualities, it flowers very profusely, and the 
honey is reported to be of good quality. 
Eucalyptus maculata, the spotted gum, is a stately, 
handsome tree, with smooth whitish bark, from which 
the older bark falls off in patches, giving the trunk a 
spotted appearance. The tree is naturally weU- 
shaped and grows very taU. In his Forest Flora of 
New South Wales, Mr. J, F. Maiden, Government 
Botanist of that State, records a specimen to be three 
hundred feet in height. There is a very fine speci- 
men of this tree growing in the ^lelbourne Govern- 
ment House Domain; and another beautiful one is 
growing near the main entrance to the Geelong 
Botanic Gardens. 
The lemon-scented gum is considered to be merely 
a variety of this species, being named Eucalyptus 
maculata, var. citriodora. It differs only in the 
subtle fragrance of the oil in the leaves, which is 
lemon-scented, and in the whiter and clearer appear- 
ance of its bark, the older bark dropping off more 
readily and leaving none of the spotted appearance. 
This, too, is a handsome tree, and the light trunk 
and limbs are set off to great advantage when planted 
in front of some darker foliaged and dense growing 
trees. This variety is not a native of Victoria. 
The common names of the Eucalyptus family' are 
very much confused; there are quite a number of 
