W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm in small sketch-book
Blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus to the botanists), have been a
part of the South African landscape since the Gold Rush, long enough
that legends have sprung up about how they first made it to the country.
The usual story is that 19th Century gold miners encouraged planting of
the trees as a quick-growing source of quality lumber, then were
disappointed to find out that South African-grown eucs produce wood
unsuitable for much besides rough fenceposts and firewood.
The stories have some factual basis: there was a speculative
eucalyptus-planting rush in the first years of the 20th Century, with
people planning uses from fine furniture to rot-resistant railroad ties.
And the home-grown trees, which grew far more quickly than their
Australian counterparts, did not turn out to make lousy timber! The logs
were extensively used in our mining industry and to this day they are
still popular as fence posts and roof timber.
