306 
EUCALYPTUS 
in height in six years and 100 feet in ten 
years; and under favorable conditions a 
seedling may reach a height of 35 feet in 
eight months, and in three years a height 
of 70 feet. In Australia some trees grow 
375 feet tall. The wood is very heavy, 
hard, and strong, and is valued at the same 
price as oak. It is used for innumerable 
purposes from telegraph poles, railroad 
ties, and shipbuilding to cabinet work and 
wagon wheels, as well as for fuel; while 
the leaves yield large quantities of medici¬ 
nal oil. Windbreaks of two or three rows 
of blue gum afford excellent protection to 
orchards. The cost of setting out and cul¬ 
tivating a plantation for two years is about 
.$25 per acre, while the returns at the end 
of ten years will usually not exceed $160 
per acre. 
The bark of the blue gum is smooth and 
pale brown. The leaves are sword-shaped, 
6 to 12 inches long, tough, leathery, and 
bluish green in young trees, but dark green 
in older trees. The flowers are solitary (in 
most other species they are in small clus¬ 
ters), in the axils of the leaves and appear 
from December to June. The flower bud 
expands by the top of the calyx dropping 
off, when there is a “veritable starburst” 
of some 100 creamy-white stamens. A 
flower consists of the cup-shaped lower 
portion of the calyx, which is well adapted 
to hold the very abundant supply of nec¬ 
tar, and a ring of stamens, with the pistil 
in the center-—there are no petals. The 
seed cases are round, top-shaped, or in the 
blue gum angular, and a pound of seed 
will produce over 10,000 plants. E. globu¬ 
lus was introduced into California in 1856. 
Other species of eucalyptus, which are 
promising commercially, are the sugar gum 
(E. corynocalyx) , the red gum (E. rostra- 
ta ), and the gray gum ( E. tereticornis); 
but none of them are comparable to E. 
globulus in rapid growth, value of timber, 
and ability to flourish over a wide range 
of conditions in California. The sugar 
gum is much used in southern California 
as a street tree and for windbreaks. It 
strongly resists drouth, but succumbs easily 
to frosts. The red gum has been largely 
planted in the Sacramento and San Joa¬ 
quin Valleys, and also withstands well the 
intense heat of the Imperial Valley. The 
gray gum endures drouth and cold better 
than many species, and can, therefore, be 
planted over a wide range of the State. 
The timber of all three species is strong 
and valuable. 
All of the species yield nectar, but most 
of them are so rare outside of experimental 
grounds that their value as honey-produc¬ 
ers remains to be determined. The bloom¬ 
ing time of the various species varies so 
widely that there are, at least, from three' 
to seven species in flower during every 
month of the year, and a species may even 
bloom twice in the same year. The blue 
gum (E. globulus) is the only species'which 
is yet sufficiently abundant to be of much 
importance to apiarists. 
The honey is amber-colored and inferior 
in quality. It is valuable to beekeepers in 
California chiefly because it yields nectar 
the larger part of the winter. The quan¬ 
tity of honey gathered varies greatly in 
different years. Occasionally there is a 
fair surplus; but, as a rule, only sufficient 
honey is secured to stimulate brood-rearing 
and to support the colony, so that the re¬ 
serve stores, left in the hiv.e to prevent 
starvation in case the winter flow fails, are 
not consumed. A large number of bee¬ 
keepers in this .State move, their bees many 
miles to the eucalyptus trees in order that 
they may build up during the winter and 
be strong enough to gather a crop of honey 
from orange bloom. 
Several species are reputed to yield fine 
honeys with exquisite flavors. The sugar 
gum (E. corynocalyx) secretes nectar copi¬ 
ously, and two or three bees may often be 
seen around a single blossom seeking a load 
of nectar. The flowers, which are in pretty 
white clusters about two inches broad, ex¬ 
hale a most agreeable odor suggestive of a 
ripe cantaloupe. The mahogany gum (E. 
robusta), which thrives in swampy locali¬ 
ties, is also very valuable. White iron bark 
(E. leucoxylon) with a vanilla-like fra¬ 
grance, and the honey-scented gum (E. 
melliodora) are reported to be wonderful 
yielders of nectar and to be very eagerly 
visited by bees. They all bloom during the 
earlier half of the year when their value in 
stimulating brood-rearing is almost beyond 
estimate. 
But eucalyptus honey in America prob¬ 
ably belongs chiefly to the future. The 
commercial importance of eucalyptus cul- 
