blue gum

• bluegum

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blue gum (plural blue gums)

1. Any of various eucalyptus trees having blueish leaves, especially Eucalyptus globulus. [from 19th c.]
   • 1999, JM Coetzee, Disgrace, Vintage 2000, p. 61:

     Now there are five, solidly built, with concrete bases, galvanized poles and struts, and heavy-gauge mesh, shaded by young bluegum trees.

   • 2007, Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones, Allen & Unwin 2007, p. 95:

     I am hoping, maybe because I am roasting out here, that it is to accommodate some breed of shady tree. Like a bluegum or a paperbark.

2. (slang, offensive) A person of sub-Saharan African origin, alluding to the blue coloring around their gumline

• Gippsland blue gum
• inland blue gum
• large-fruited blue gum
• mountain blue gum
• round-leaved blue gum
• South Australian blue gum
• southern blue gum
• spotted blue gum
• Tasmanian blue gum
• Victorian blue gum