20080618

Plant of the day

Plant of the day is eucalyptus, of genus Eucalyptus from the family Myrtaceae:


They are actually not native to CA, but to Australia. However, back in the railroading days enough of them were introduced that they've successfully naturalized into the Cal landscape. A particular south Cal campus comes to mind.

The plant is characterized by oil glands in the leaves (little black or transparent dots if you hold a leaf blade up to the light) and showy stamens. Yep, the pink stuff is all stamens. The petals and sepals fuse into this odd cup-like little thing that falls off when the flower blooms.

I like the way they smell.

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