View image in fullscreenEucalyptus obliqua by Pierre Joseph Redouté (draughtsman) and Francois Hubert (engraver), 1788The first European scientific description using the taxonomic name eucalyptus was published in 1788 by the wealthy French botanist Charles-Louis L’Héritier de Brutelle. His book included this engraving of messmate stringybark – the first print depicting a eucalypt – and was based upon specimens and seeds taken from Lutruwita/Tasmania in 1774, on Cook’s second voyage to the Pacific.