Eucalyptus Tree is
the most common
type of tree in Australia.
It’s a huge
genus that consists of 700-900 species, the vast majority of which are
endemic to Australia.
Eucalypts are flowering trees and shrubs that have spread over the
whole continent from dry desertssnowy
mountains. The only environment where they don’t thrive is tropical
rainforest.
Here is some information about eucalyptus plant, its leaves and seeds,
flowers and oil uses, and a few species found in Australia.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Eucalyptus Plant, its Flower and Seeds
Some of the most distinctive features of Eucalypts are their flowers.
Like banksias,
bottle
brush plants
and some other Australian plant species, they have no visible petals.
Instead their stamens are large and impressive. Their fluffy stamens
can be of different colours like yellow, cream, white, pink or red.
Eucalypt nectar eaters like birds, bats
and possums
pollinate those flowers. Once the fruit is ready, it is a woody capsule
with valves which open to release the seeds. Many eucalypt species rely
on bushfires
for the valves to open.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Eucalyptus Tree Leaves and Oil Uses
Eucalypt leaves are narrow and elongate in most species. They are known
to be toxic, although a few eucalyptus leaf eaters such as koalas
can handle those toxins. Eucalypt leaves are also known for having oil
glands and Eucalyptus oils have many different uses. They cure muscle
aches and pains, flues and sore throats, and they are also used for
foot baths, and as air freshener and insect
repellent. Eucalyptus oils are very flammable, that’s what people meant
after the 2009 Victoria bushfires, when they said that “trees
exploded”. They literally explode in the fire because of those
flammable oils. This is also one of the reasons why Australian bush
fires
get so big – most of
Australian forests consist of eucalypts and their oils “feed” the
fires.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species of Australian Gum Tree Eucalyptus Tree
The huge amount of different Eucalypt trees can roughly be divided into
a few groups. Eucalypt trees are known to be Gum Trees. Not all
eucalypts are gum trees however. This is only one group of them, albeit
probably the largest. Southern Blue Gum (Eucalyptus
globulus) is a beautiful gum tree with smooth grey bark and
yellow
flowers which is mostly found in Victoria, but also in places in Tasmania
and New South Wales. South
Australian Blue Gum
(Eucalyptus leucoxylon) is a small tree with narrow
leaves and
pink or creamy flowers that is found in western Victoria and
south-eastern South
Australia. Sydney Blue Gum (Eucalyptus
Saligna) is a
medium sized tree with grey bark, white flowers and alternate leaves,
which is found along the eastern coast of Australia, between Fraser
Coast in north and Sydney in south. It is also found in a few small
pockets in inland Queensland and Victoria.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species of Australian Gum Tree Eucalyptus Tree Snow Gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora)
is one of the
most beautiful gum trees in Australia, with its incredibly beautiful
colourful reddish patchy bark, which is found in the cool Alpine areas,
inland Victoria,
south-eastern New South Wales, and inland
Tasmania. Grey Gum (Eucalyptus
punctata) is another beautiful gum tree with its grey-orange
patchy
bark, and it is found in areas around Sydney. River Red
Gum
(Eucalyptus
camaldulensis) is a
very common gum tree that is found in most of Australia, except
Tasmania and some dry inland areas in Queensland’s Channel Country and
inland Western Australia. Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus
tereticornis) is a
fairly common tree with mottled grey bark, white or pink flowers and
narrow leaves, which is found along the eastern coast of Australia (and
a bit inland), between southern New
South Wales and Cooktown on the Cape
York
peninsula.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species of Australian Gum Tree Eucalyptus Tree White Gum (Eucalyptus alba)
is a small tree
with broad leaves and creamy flowers that is found in the top end of Northern
Territory. It has got a dull white bark,
creamy-white flowers and narrow leaves. Inland Scribbly
Gum
(Eucalyptus rossii) has got
its name from the scribbly markings on its bark, made by an insect
larva. It has got whitish flowers and narrow leaves, and it is found in
coastal New South Wales and Australian
Capital Territory. Salmon Gum
(Eucalyptus salmonophloia) is a medium-sized tree
with grey to
reddish brown bark, creamy white flowers and narrow leaves, and it is
found in inland south western WA.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species of Australian Gum Tree Eucalyptus Tree Brittle Gum (Eucalyptus mannifera)
is a small
or medium sized tree with narrow leaves and white flowers which is
found in eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales. Flooded
Gum (Eucalyptus grandis) is a tall
tree with grey bark
and white flowers which is found in areas along the eastern coast of
Australia, between Cairns
and Mackay
region in Queensland, and Fraser
Island and Byron
Bay in New South Wales. Sugar Gum
(Eucalyptus cladocalyx) is a rare gum tree with
yellow flowers
which is only found in some coastal areas in South Australia, like the
eastern coast of Eyre
Peninsula, and a few places around Adelaide.
Coral Gum (Eucalyptus torquata)
is a small tree
with bright red or pink flowers which is found in a small pocket around
Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species of Australian Gum Tree Eucalyptus
Tree Ribbon Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis)
can vary in
size but it has got white flowers, narrow leaves and smooth, white or
cream bark. It is found in most of Tasmania, and the coastal areas in
Victoria,
southern New South Wales, and eastern South Australia. Lemon-flowered
Gum
(Eucalyptus woodwardii) is a
rare Australian gum tree with grey bark, bright yellow flowers and
narrow leathery leaves that is found in small pockets in inland western
Victoria, and north of Nullarbor Plain in Western
Australia. Swamp Gum (Eucalyptus
ovata) is a mall tree
with dark grey bark and white or creamy flowers that is mostly found in
coastal Victoria, but also in southern New South Wales; Kangaroo
Island in South Australia, and in the
eastern half of Tasmania. Blakely’s Red Gum
(Eucalyptus
blakelyi) is a
medium sized tree with smooth bark, narrow leaves and pink or white
flowers. It is mostly found in inland New South Wales, but also in
parts of southern Queensland
and inland Victoria.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species of Australian Gum Tree Eucalyptus
Tree Desert Gum, aka Ghost Gum
(Corymbia
papuana)
is probably the most beautiful Australian gum tree, with its light grey
shiny bark and creamy white flowers. It is found in inland Queensland
and Cape York, outback Northern Territory, the Top End
of Northern Territory, and Kimberley
and Pilbara regions in Western Australia.
Lemon-scented Gum
(Corymbia citriodora) is a tall tree with creamy
fluffy flowers
and elongate leaves that is found in coastal parts of Queensland. Red-flowering
Gum (Corymbia
ficifolia) is a small tree with red flowers that is found in
the
south western WA. Spotted Gum (Corymbia
maculate)
is a tall tree with spotted grey bark and creamy-white flowers that is
found along the eastern coast of Australia between Wilsons
Promontory in south and Gold
Coast in north.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species Other than Australian Eucalyptus Tree
- Mallees
Mallees are Eucalyptus plants whose common feature is that they are
multi-stemmed from the ground. There are a few other eucalypt groups
like Mallets, and woodland eucalypts, that have the branching habit,
but they start branching from the trunk above the ground level, while
mallees most often don’t have one single trunk. Red
Mallee
(Eucalyptus socialis) is a mallee or small tree with
yellow to
creamy flowers, narrow leaves and dark grey bark. It is found in inland
areas of South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia
and Northern Territory. Narrow-leaved Red
Mallee (Eucalyptus leptophylla) is a
mallee or a small
tree with narrow leaves, pale grey bark and creamy white flowers. Red-flowered
Mallee (Eucalyptus erythronema) is a
mallee or small
tree with white bark, narrow leaves and red or pink flowers, which is
found in the inland south
western WA.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species Other than Australian Eucalyptus Tree - Mallees Open-fruited Mallee (Eucalyptus
annulata) can
have a single trunk, although most often it has many stems rising from
the ground. It has creamy-yellow flowers, narrow alternate leaves, and
it is found in south western WA. Ridge-fruited Mallee
(Eucalyptus incrassata) is a mallee or small tree
with pale grey
bark, broad leaves and cream or white flowers. Soap
Mallee
(Eucalyptus diversifolia) is a small tree with a
wide crown,
light bark, white or cream flowers and narrow leaves. It is found in
coastal areas in South Australia, and along the Nullarbor coast in
Western Australia. Tall Sand Mallee
(Eucalyptus eremophila) is a small tree with dense
crown, light
bark, cream or bright yellow flowers, and it is found in inland south
western WA. Pear-fruited Mallee (Eucalyptus
pyriformis) is
a mallee or small tree with yellow, pink or red flowers and grey bark.
It is only found in a small area in coastal Western Australia between Perth
and Shark
Bay.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species Other than Australian Eucalyptus Tree - Ironbark
Ironbark is a group of Eucalypt trees with dark, furrowed bark. As
opposed to other Eucalypts whose old bark peels off, the bark of
ironbark stays and creates furrows. It’s a thick bark, resistant to
heat and bushfires. Narrow-leaved Ironbark
(Eucalyptus
crebra) is
a medium-sized tree with dark bark, creamy flowers and narrow leaves,
and it is found along the whole eastern coast and a fair bit to inland,
between Cape York peninsula in north and Sydney
in south.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species Other than Australian Eucalyptus Tree - Box
Box is a group of Eucalypts that have bark with short fibres. Some have
corkish, tessellated bark. Red Box (Eucalyptus
polyanthemos) is a small to
medium-sized tree with alternate leaves, white, cream or pink flowers,
and a grey bark with white patches. It is found in inland Victoria and
souther New South Wales. Black
Box (Eucalyptus largiflorens) is a
small to
medium-sized tree with rough bark, narrow leaves and pink or creamy
flowers. Yellow Box (Eucalyptus
melliodora) is
a
mediumsized tree with grey to orange-brown bark, cream flowers and
alternate leaves, which is found in south-eastern Australia between
Gladstone in north and Victoria-South Australia border in south. Grey
Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) is a
medium-sized tree with
grey bark, alternate leaves and creamy white flowers. It is found in
patches in inland Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species Other than Australian Eucalyptus Tree -
Stringybark
Stringybark is a group of Eucalyptus trees with thick, fibrous bark
which can be pulled off in strings. They are mostly medium-sized trees
but some of them can grow very high. Red Stringybark
(Eucalyptus
macrorhyncha) is
a medium-sized tree with grey to reddish brown bark and white or creamy
flowers. It is found in inland New South Wales and Victoria. Darwin
Stringybark (Eucalyptus tetrodonta)
is a large, tall
tree with grey thick bark and cream or white flowers. It is found in
the Top End of Northern Territory, Cape
York peninsula in Queensland, and in the Kimberley region in
Western Australia.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Species Other than Australian Eucalyptus Tree - Bloodwood
Bloodwood is a group of Eucalypts (subgroup Corymbia)
that have corkish bark that is broken up into distinct flakes, and a
dark reddish brown kino that piles up in the wounds on their stems.
They are also known to have fruits with extra thick wood walls. Yellow
Bloodwood (Corymbia eximia) is a
small
or medium sized tree with yellowish brown bark, narrow leaves and white
to cram flowers. It is found in the area around Sydney. Red
Bloodwood (Corymbia
gummifera) is a
medium-sized or tall tree with greyish brown bark and cream or white
flowers, which is found along the eastern coast of Australia, between Fraser
Coast in north and New South Wales and
Victoria border in south.
Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
Disclaimer: Although
best efforts have been made to ensure
that all the information on this site is correct,
gondwananet.com is not to be blamed should there be a mistake.
Copyright notice:
All contents of this website are strictly protected
by the Law of Copyright. What
does that mean?