Eucalyptus Trees

Question from Sharron:
I am looking for a tree that was planted along the Ca. railroads to supply them with railroads ties. It did not work but now Ca. has many of these trees. I believe they may have come from Australia where there wood was very hard; not so here, or some reason. Do you know of any such tree?

Answer from Pat:
The tree that was used in Australia for railroad ties was eucalyptus. Several species of eucalyptus are useful for lumber in Australia and several of these make excellent railroad ties since the wood is extremely hard and long-lasting, with little tendency to rot. Beginning in 1850 about fifty species of eucalyptus were imported into the USA and later around 1910 eighteen varieties of eucalyptus were selected among those known in Australia as especially useful for timber, including certain ones for railroad ties. These species were planted in several areas up and down the West coast, including a huge plantation by the Santa Fe Railroad in the area of San Diego County now known as Rancho Santa Fe. The main species planted in Rancho Santa Fe seems to have been red gum eucalyptus (E. camaldulensis), one of the best two eucalyptus known in its native Australia for lumber and railroad ties, and white ironbark (Eucalyptus leucoxylon), which is also a tree prized as lumber in Australia, but some other species were tried out as well. Unfortunately, red ironbark is highly susceptible to the Red Gum Lerp Psyllid, that got started in California in 1998 and this has caused repeated defoliation of the red gum trees and often resulted in death of this species of eucalyptus in Rancho Santa Fe.

Around 1920 a few trees were harvested and given a trial as railroad ties by the Santa Fe, but unfortunately the weather in California is not suited to growing eucalyptus for lumber. The wood was found to be internally twisted and having a tendency to split. All this happened long before any pests afflicted eucalyptus in California so you can imaging what a huge disappointment this was to the railroad. The railroad sold off their land for development and the first buyers came from Chicago, where the railroad’s headquarters were located. Rancho Santa Fe was touted to wealthy people there as a great place to retire due to its fabulous climate.

Though eucalyptus was a failure here as a timber tree it could be used for other purposes and wherever groves of them were planted, many ended up as firewood. In Rancho Santa Fe when the trees failed to produce the hoped-for railroad ties, the area was subdivided and the trees became so prized for their appearance and drought-resistance that they turned into a hallmark of one of the wealthiest communities in the the United States. Meanwhile farmers had discovered that the blue gum eucalyptus (E. globulus) was useful as a windbreak and it was widely used agriculturally, especially in orange groves to stop the damaging effects of seasonal Santa Ana winds. A few eucalyptus are good in gardens, such as lemongum eucalyptus (E. citriodora) which unlike many others is deep-rooted, and many are ornamental, prize like flame eucalyptus (E. ficifola) for its stunning floral display, or like E. citriodora, for its handsome structure and all are known for ease of cultivation.