Why gum trees are called.....

....gum trees. 

I've been meaning to do a series on eucalypts, or gum trees.  The bark is often incredibly beautiful.  I guess I haven't done them because they are difficult to photograph and you rarely seem to get single specimens in a space big enough to hold them.  Hard to explain.  Bit like old oak trees in the UK.  If you get a single specimen in a field with nothing around it you are lucky. 

Most of our eucalypts are in open forests which just look like a tangle.

So, anyway, when I saw these two drops of gum on a  (you guessed it)  gum tree, I thought they were like raindrops in a sense. and very photogenic.

I believe some types are edible, but I wouldn't know which ones.  I think you have to be brought up in the bush to really know it - and know what you can eat and what you can't.