3 ms·
> "Nobody, not one Australian I know has ever said eucalyptus was a sensible export as live wood, or was suitable for planting like this in these countries. I c
by swores 3y ago
> "Nobody, not one Australian I know has ever said eucalyptus was a sensible export as live wood, or was suitable for planting like this in these countries. I can't work out who did think this was a good idea."
Obviously it's less likely to be thought a good idea now that we better understand the downsides, but the article this thread links to mentions ten times a pretty notable example of somebody who thought it was a good idea: Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, the first director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. FTA:
> "Von Mueller would send visiting botanists home with seeds and mail them to other correspondents in his network, always championing the benefits of the tree as he saw them."
and
> "Von Mueller had hoped the eucalyptus would reforest areas of Europe where native vegetation had been stripped away"
- mistrial9 3y agosocial elite developed around commanding long-distance trade, and the tree trafficking played into that social prominence narrative IMO. Think of "common people" without travel, "uneducated" people without a common (Latin) vocabulary for botany, and "poor" people without the Wealth of Nations to execute and broadcast their unnatural accomplishments, and the social status of the people who do have all of those aspects in public view. The reason for the quotes is that there is more than one form of wealth, more knowledge than Latin and ways to know the local ecosystems that do not involve crossing continents.. but the point is.. At every step, unwise or excessive displays of trade power, with exotic animals, plants and possessions, were used and wielded for relative social status, along with actual utility. I imagine that the Australian Gum tree fits into that pattern.