Eucalyptus globulus; blue gum

Japanese: ユーカリ（英語表記）Eucalyptus globulus; blue gum

An evergreen tall tree of the Myrtaceae family. Native to Australia, it is cultivated along the Mediterranean coast and in southern North America, and was introduced to Japan around 1877 and grows in warm regions. The trunk is upright and can reach over 100m, and is well branched. The bark of old trees peels off easily. The leaves of young trees are oval, stalkless, thin, and opposite, but the leaves of mature trees are alternate, lanceolate, stalked, thick, and slightly sickle-shaped. The leaves have small oily spots and have a camphor-like fragrance when bruised. In summer, short-stalked green-white flowers grow singly in the leaf axils. The calyx and petals fall off early, exposing numerous stamens. The fruit is cone-shaped and hard. Eucalyptus oil is extracted from fresh leaves and is widely used for medicinal purposes. The tree is also planted around houses to provide a dry environment, as it is large and absorbs a large amount of moisture from the soil. There are about 600 species of Eucalyptus, mainly found in Australia, many of which are cultivated as horticultural species. They are drought-resistant and grow quickly, so they are planted worldwide as greening trees in arid regions. However, because of their poor quality, they are not often used as lumber. In Japan, in addition to the above-mentioned species, lemon eucalyptus E. citriodora and willow-leaf eucalyptus E. leucoxylon are also sometimes cultivated. The name Eucalyptus is sometimes used as a general term for all plants in this genus, in which case the English name gum-tree is used.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

フトモモ科の常緑高木。オーストラリア原産で，地中海沿岸や北アメリカ南部で栽培され，日本には 1877年頃渡来し，温暖な地方で生育している。幹は直立し 100m以上に達するものもあり，よく分枝し，老樹の樹皮はよくはげる。幼樹の葉は卵円形で柄がなく，薄質で対生するが，生長樹の葉は互生し，披針形で，有柄，厚質で多少鎌形に湾曲する。葉に小油点があり，傷つけると樟脳に似た芳香がある。夏に，葉腋に短柄の緑白色の花が単生する。萼と花弁は早く落ち，多数のおしべが露出する。果実は円錐形で堅い。新鮮な葉からユーカリ油をとり，広く薬用にする。また樹木が巨大で土中の水分を多量に吸上げるので，乾燥した環境を得るために住宅の周囲に植えられる。ユーカリ属の植物はオーストラリアを中心に約 600種もあり，園芸種として栽植されるものも多い。乾燥に強く生長が速いので乾燥地域での緑化樹として世界的に植えられている。しかし材質が悪いため用材としての利用はあまりされていない。日本では上述の種類のほか，レモンユーカリ E. citriodora，ヤナギバユーカリ E. leucoxylonなどもときに栽植されている。なおユーカリの名はこの属の植物全体の総称として使われることもあり，その場合の英名としては gum-treeが使われる。

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