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

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

I’ve had a special place in my heart for these creatures ever since while strolling on the beach I saw what I thought was a wad of blue gum on the sand.

From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2010

Without anyone seeing, I ran into the blue gum grove behind my house, leaned against a tree, and tried to make myself clean.

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