About Eucalyptus globulus Labill.
Eucalyptus globulus Labill. is a tree that typically reaches 45 metres (148 feet) in height. It may grow as a stunted shrub in some conditions, or reach up to 90 metres (300 feet) under ideal conditions, and it forms a lignotuber. Its bark is usually smooth, ranging from white to cream-coloured, but sometimes has persistent unshed bark slabs at the base. Young plants, which are often several metres tall, and coppice regrowth have stems that are roughly square in cross-section, with a prominent wing at each corner. Juvenile leaves are mostly arranged in opposite pairs, are sessile, glaucous, and elliptic to egg-shaped, growing up to 150 mm (5.9 in) long and 105 mm (4.1 in) wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, have the same glossy to dark green colour on both sides, and are lance-shaped or curved. They measure 150–300 mm (5.9–11.8 in) long and 17–30 mm (0.67–1.18 in) wide, and grow on a petiole 1.5–6 mm (0.059–0.236 in) long. Flower buds are arranged singly, or in groups of three or seven, in leaf axils. They are sometimes sessile, and sometimes borne on a short thick peduncle. Individual buds are also usually sessile, though sometimes they grow on a pedicel up to 5 mm (0.20 in) long. Mature buds are top-shaped to conical, glaucous or green, with a flattened hemispherical, warty operculum that has a central knob. Flowering time varies by subspecies and distribution, but the flowers are always white. The fruit is a woody conical or hemispherical capsule 2–3 cm in diameter, with valves positioned close to rim level. This species, commonly known as blue gum, grows in forests across New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and some Bass Strait Islands. The nominate subspecies E. g. subsp. globulus occurs mainly in lowland areas of Tasmania, and is also found on some Bass Strait islands including King Island, and in the extreme south-west of Victoria. Subspecies E. g. subsp. bicostata grows in montane and tableland areas between the Carrai Plateau in northern New South Wales and the Pyrenees in Victoria. Subspecies E. g. subsp. maidenii occurs on near-coastal ranges of south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria. Subspecies E. g. subsp. pseudoglobulus is mostly distributed in eastern Gippsland, with isolated populations further inland and in the Nadgee Nature Reserve in south-eastern New South Wales. This species has naturalised non-native populations in Ireland, where young self-sown saplings typically grow 2.5 m per year, as well as in Spain, Portugal, other parts of southern Europe including Cyprus and Macaronesia, southern Africa, New Zealand, and the western United States (California, Hawaii).
