Eucalyptus

“ These 22ladies of the hilltop have a fashion of growing thus, and in no other position is their delicate, suggestive beauty more apparent. The eucalyptus is an original genius among trees, never repeating itself. It stands for endless variety, for strong good cheer, for faith that seeks and reaches and goes on, never wavering It blesses as well as delights its friends. I love its wonderful, ever varying leaves, its up-reaching, outstretching branches, and the annual surprise of its mystic blossoming. Each tree is distinct and individual in its growth, yet every one is typical of the genus. ”

“ A soft and delicious herbage carpeted the soil, whilst trees of about fifty years' growth— evergreen oaks, palms, bread-fruits, sycamores, interspersed with cactuses and aloes, and topped by two or three fine specimens of the eucalyptus—formed a charming framework to the whole. ”

“ I gathered several species of the eucalyptus, during this excursion; amongst others, that which White has denominated eucalyptus resinifera. This is a very tall tree, the spungy bark of which is often three inches in thickness, and separates very easily from the trunk. It produces a gum resin, of a reddish colour and astringent taste, which is used for medicinal purposes. We likewise collected several species of philadelphus, the banksia integrifolia, a new species of epacris, &c. ”

“ The eucalyptus is an Australian tree, with narrow straight-hanging leaves, and its rapid growth makes it useful for firewood. A tree will grow forty feet in four years, and when cut off a few feet above the ground will spring up again and soon be ready to yield another crop. My grove had never been cut, but would soon be old enough. In the photograph of a eucalyptus avenue near Los Angeles, the row of trees on the right have been cut near the ground and the branching trunks are the consequence. ”

“ I had not as yet been able to procure any of the flowers of a new species of the eucalyptus, remarkable by its fruit, which very much resembles a coat-button in shape.
This tree, which is one of the tallest in nature, as it grows sometimes to the height of 150 feet, blossoms only near its summit. Its trunk exactly resembles that of the eucalyptus resinifera, when its spongy bark has been peeled off. ”

“ Intermingled with this odor was the spicy scent of eucalyptus.
They pushed forward with renewed zeal so that the sweat ran down their skins, dissolving the berry juices and making rivulets that looked like purple blood.
When less than a hundred yards from the stream, which was still hidden beyond the tall grasses and the trees lining its bank, they heard the sound of voices, high pitched—women's voices. They became uneasy and nervous. Their surges forward shortened to ten feet, their rest periods became longer, they searched worriedly for signs of motion through the trees. ”

“ There is one aspect of it, however, which can not perhaps be dwelt upon too much, and that is the value of this genus of plants as drainers of the soil and purifiers of the atmosphere. This is probably the true reason why so many attempts, more or less successful, have been made to acclimatize the eucalyptus in Southern Europe and even in Great Britain. No doubt, experiments have been stimulated by other causes. ”

“ That the main influence of Eucalyptus trees is thus due to the absorptive power of the roots is also borne out by the fact that other plants of rapid growth, when planted in marshy districts, have a sensible effect in diminishing their malarious influence. ”

“ The varieties of the eucalyptus, not always the most beautiful of trees from their greyish leafage and want of shadow, are still a wonderful addition to a dry and thirsty land. Considering their original habitat in Australia, it was a foregone conclusion that they would do well here, and they have proved to be most rapid of growth. ”

“ Even out to the very ocean edge the groves run, their purples and greens melting into the purples and greens of the sea when it is dark and when it is sunny blue,—making harmonious lines of color, leading up from it to the soft grays of the olive and the bright greens of the walnut orchards and wheat-fields. When the almond trees are in bloom, the eucalyptus belts are perhaps most superb of all, with their dark spears and plumes waving above and around the white and rosy acres. ”

“ Given a site where no wind blows, the eucalyptus will grow straight, but offered the smallest provocation it flops off to one side or the other, while its foliage is liable probably beyond that of all other trees to discoloration and raggedness. In Natal it has proved itself very useful as fencing, for neither wood nor stone being procurable, slips and shreds of eucalyptus have soon grown up into permanent hedges. But no one thinks of valuing it anywhere, except in Australia, either for its timber, its appearance, or its medicinal virtues. ”

“ Ordinarily in this country Eucalyptus seeds are sown in a mixture of loam, peat, and ordinary soil, with a sprinkling of sand on the surface, and are readily raised in a greenhouse.
Having now described, as fully as time will allow, the general and botanical characters of the Eucalyptus globulus and other species of Eucalyptus, we proceed to refer to their properties and uses, with more especial reference to Eucalyptus globulus. ”

“ Baron von Mueller, government botanist{271} at Melbourne, has described more than one hundred and thirty species of Eucalyptus: some grow into forests of great extent both on high and low table-land, others form dense desert scrub, while others are so distributed as to impart a park-like appearance to the landscape. The leaves are evergreen, and so arranged that the light and heat of the sun fall equally on each side ”

“ Passing from Sacramento, and remarking as we go, the patronage which that vegetable impostor, the eucalyptus globulus (or "blue-gum" of Australia) has secured, both as an ornamental—save the mark!—and a shade-tree, two purposes for which by itself the eucalyptus is specially unfitted, we find ourselves once more in a world given up to harvesting. A monotonous panorama of stubble and standing crops, with clumps of pretty oak timber studding the undulating land, leads us to the diversified approaches to San Francisco. ”

“ Eucalyptus, a genus of Myrtaceæ, contains about two hundred lofty trees occurring chiefly in Australia and the Malayan Archipelago. Many reach a height of one hundred and fifty feet and a girth of twenty-five feet, and they frequently become hollow. The species are of great economic value, yielding oils, kinos, and useful timber, while the well-known oil of eucalyptus is obtained from the blue-gum tree. ”

“ About six million eucalyptus-trees have been planted in the State during the last ten years, and several million trees of other kinds. A large proportion of the number have been planted in the streets and yards of cities, and for ornament in country estates, till, in the absence of deciduous trees, "the vistas afforded by the streets are somber and monotonous through general sameness of form and tone of color." The eucalyptus is a greedy monopolist, and, when planted in a small yard, takes all there is of it, killing out the shrubs. ”

“ We have now taken a general view of the characters, properties, and uses of the various species of Eucalyptus, and more especially of Eucalyptus globulus; and we cannot but conclude that, allowing for exaggeration, when we regard the beauty of the different species, the proved influence of Eucalyptus globulus, and probably other species, in improving the pestilential character of marshy districts, and the numerous valuable economic and medicinal products derived from them, the genus is one of the most important to man in the vegetable kingdom. ”

“ Of Eucalyptus alone nearly 100 species have been already observed; most of these are trees, many of them of great and some of enormous dimensions. Eucalyptus globulus of Labillardière and another species peculiar to the south end of Van Diemen's Island, not unfrequently attain the height of 150 feet, with a girth near the base of from 25 to 40 feet. In the colony of Port Jackson there are also several species of great size, but none equal to those of Van Diemen's Island; and no very large trees of this genus were seen either on the south coast or in the equinoctial part of New Holland. ”

“ But the health-giving, fever-destroying Eucalyptus is not needed in this well-wooded healthy country, and the splendid foliage of acacia, walnut, oaks, and birch leaves nothing to desire either in the matter of shade or ornament. ”

“ What properties the plant possesses would appear, therefore, so far as known at present, to be due essentially to the presence of eucalyptol, already noticed as the principal constituent of Eucalyptus oil.
From the testimony of numerous medical practitioners in various parts of the world where the plant has been introduced, and from its popular reputation in fevers in Australia and other countries, we can scarcely doubt that it does possess anti-periodic properties, although these are far less important than those of Cinchona-bark. ”

“ It is not easy to find out the exact sanitary value of the eucalyptus, or blue-gum tree. Americans who inhabit malarial districts, and are waiting for Italy to test the tree thoroughly before planting it in their own grounds, will be sorry to learn that a blight has fallen on a great many promising groves of the eucalyptus in this country. At most of the railway-stations in South Italy the trees are withered, if not yet dead. ”

“ The trees are principally mimosa and honeysuckle, and here and there some giant of the eucalyptus order grew in handsome clumps, some in full blossom, others without any, but not the less beautiful; while between them were green open spaces, on which the sun poured down a flood of light. To complete the scene the M'Ivor meandered through the valley, each winding turn disclosing 'some fresher beauties varying round.' Travelled to-day eleven miles. ”

“ Some of the species of eucalyptus, or gum-trees, are peculiarly adapted for splitting. The peppermint-tree (Eucalyptus piperita) and the `Stringy Bark' are remarkable for the perfectly straight grain which they often exhibit, and are split with surprising evenness and regularity into paling and boards for `weather-boarding' houses and other purposes, in lengths of six or eight feet by one foot wide, and half or one-third of an inch thick. . . . Any curve in a tree renders it unfit for splitting, but the crooked- grained wood is best for sawing. ”

“ Nature appears to have provided curiously against that evil here by the abundant distribution of two plants so singularly adapted to such a soil. The root of the Eucalyptus dumosa resembles that of a large tree; but instead of a trunk only a few branches rise above the ground, forming an open kind of bush, often so low that a man on horseback may look over it for miles. ”

“ Of Eucalypti there must be many species, but I have no materials sufficient to ascertain what they are; the barren hills on the bank of the river at Point Frazer are said to produce the magnificent Eucalyptus calophylla, but as that plant is not defined I am not sure whether I possess it or not. ”

“ The trees are of very rapid growth, and furnish a timber that when green is soft and easily worked, and that when dry becomes very hard. Eucalyptus has been introduced with success both into Europe and California, and the valuable character of the tree is becoming more and more appreciated as its properties are better known. ”

“ Of the many varieties of eucalypts, the blue-gum, or Eucalyptus globulus, was the first to be introduced into Europe; hence, perhaps, it may yet appear that the best variety for acclimatization has not received proper attention. The Eucalyptus globulus is only found in Tasmania and Victoria, but where found it is really the monopolist of the woods. The forest area of Victoria, the most southern colony of Australia, contains 73,000 square miles of forest, of which 71,500 is almost wholly of eucalypts. ”

“ The alarm has been sounded, and the demand has gone forth for better methods in timber utilization, for fire protection, and tree planting. This is the right thing without doubt, but it affords a loop-hole for promoters. It is understood, also, that some trees grow faster and are more all-purpose than others. The eucalyptus are of this kind. They are of many kinds. Such trees can not be grown on any and every type of soil and are limited somewhat by climate. It so happens that California, because of its soil and climate, is the leading State in culture of eucalyptus. ”

“ The first twelve miles is poor country, being on the top of stony rises, with eucalypti, grass, and scrubs. After descending from the rises, we crossed a wooded plain, subject to inundation; no water. The trees are very thick indeed—they are the eucalyptus, the Eucalyptus Dumosa, the small-leaved tree, another small-leaved tree much resembling the hawthorn, spreading out into many branches from the root; it rises to upwards of twenty feet in height. ”

“ Eucalyptus.—Handsome Australian trees and shrubs, of which there are a vast number of species, many growing to an immense height. The leaves are of a thick leathery texture, always quite entire, and very variable in shape. In young plants they are opposite, heart-shaped, pointed, and covered with a glaucous bloom; as they grow older, they become alternate and sickle-shaped, the stalks acquiring a peculiar twist, so that the leaves present their edges to the branches. ”

“ I do not certainly believe, as has been recently stated, that the branches of a solitary Eucalyptus tree can have had any effect in neutralizing the malarious influence of a district previously constantly infected by fever; but I do think that the foliage of groves of Eucalyptus trees, by diffusing an agreeable, aromatic, camphoraceous, stimulating odour in the surrounding air, does have an appreciable influence in neutralizing marshy miasmas, and thus improving the healthiness of the district. ”