Stephen Henning wrote in
news
I wrote:

Of course we don't
have many gum trees (Eucalyptus) here either except the ones we
originally started from those in the land of Aus.

Patriarch wrote:

Actually, they were brought in over 100 years ago, with the thought
that the fast growing wood could be used for railroad ties.

First it was planted in the gold mining regions by Australian miners.
They thought it could compensate for California's lack of hardwood
trees. The several varieties of blue gums were the cheapest to
produce in the nurseries. When the Central Pacific Railroad got into
the act in 1877, they bought these blue gum seedlings and the story
continues from there. They never developed into the high grade lumber
trees of the virgin forests of Australia.

The ones I am more familiar with are the ones around Oakland and the
Bay Area that were brought in more recently in the early 1900's after
droughts killed many other ornamental trees.

There were also some in Alabama and Mississippi that were brought in
many years ago for medicinal purposes. I have seed pods from some of
them.

Thanks for adding/updating/correcting the details. And I'll spend more
time with your horticultural pages. There's a wealth of information there.

Patriarch