the gum tree. There are 120species, as set forth in Baron von Mueller's `Eucalyptographia,a Descriptive Atlas of the Eucalypts of Australia.' The namewas first given in scientific Latin by the French botanistL'Heritier, in his Sertum Anglicum, published in 1788.From the Greek 'eu, well, and kaluptein, to cover.See quotation, 1848. N.O. Myrtaceae. The French now say Eucalyptus; earlier they called it l'acajou de lanouvelle Hollande. The Germans call it Schoenmutze.See Gum.
1823. Sidney Smith, `Essays,' p. 440:
«A London thief, clothed in Kangaroo's skins, lodged underthe bark of the dwarf eucalyptus, and keeping sheep, fourteenthousand miles from Piccadilly, with a crook bent into theshape of a picklock, is not an uninteresting picture.»
1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. i. c. ii. p. 80:
«A large basin in which there are stunted pines and eucalyptusscrub.»
1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 132:
«The scientific term Eucalyptus has been derived from theGreek, in allusion to a lid or covering over the blossom,which falls off when the flower expands, exposing a four-celledcapsule or seed-vessel.»
1851. G. W. Rusden, `Moyarra,' canto i. p. 8:
«The eucalyptus on the hill
Was silent challenge to his skill.»
1879. `Temple Bar,' Oct., p. 23 ('0. E. D.'):
«The sombre eucalypti . . . interspersed here and there bytheir dead companions.»
1886. J. A. Froude, `Oceana,' p. 118:
«At intervals the bush remained untouched, but the universaleucalyptus, which I had expected to find grey and monotonous,was a Proteus it shape and colour, now branching like an oakor a cork tree, now feathered like a birch, or glowing likean arbutus with an endless variety of hue – – green, orange,and brown.»
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right, c. v. p. 46:
«A lofty eucalyptus . . . lay with its bared roots sheer athwarta tiny watercourse.»