blue gum

American  

noun

1. eucalyptus.

---

blue gum British  

noun

1. a tall fast-growing widely cultivated Australian myrtaceous tree, Eucalyptus globulus , having aromatic leaves containing a medicinal oil, bark that peels off in shreds, and hard timber. The juvenile leaves are bluish in colour

2. any of several other eucalyptus trees

---

Etymology

Origin of blue gum

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

And oh, yes, the eucalyptus — the Tasmanian blue gum variety, melancholy and romantic-looking, the Hamlet of trees.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2025

We came across a row of five stout stumps of 130-year-old blue gum trees that are known as “the Burghers of Prince Albert.”

From New York Times • Apr. 11, 2019

There rises Mount Sutro, an 80-acre hill forested by blue gum eucalyptus trees.

From New York Times • Apr. 6, 2017

A particular sense of color — eggplant, blue, gum pink and yellow — went right back to the teenage boys of his earliest collections.

From New York Times • Jan. 17, 2013

As usual, we found a line of truck drivers, market women, farmers, and traders waiting outside under the blue gum trees to share their concerns and grievances.

From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba