While it’s common to refer to all Eucalypts as Gum Trees when it comes to identification “Gum Trees” generally refer to Eucalypts and closely related (Angophora and Corymbia) with more or less smooth bark on their trunks and branches. Within the “gums” there’s a lot of different groups, Red Gums, Grey Gums, Blue Gums, Ribbon Gums, Spotted Gums (Bloodwoods), Ribbon Gums, Scribbly Gums and in the Hunter we have representatives of all of them and I’ll be taking the next few editions of “The Scoop” to work our way through the gums.
Smooth Barked Apple (Angophora costata) is sometimes referred to as Sydney Red Gum but I’m not including that here (it is, however listed here)
Gums and gum like
1 Valves enclosed or level with rim 2
1* Valves exserted or protruding 4
2 Inflorescences terminal panicle, fruits obconical or barrel shaped, glaucous, 0.5 x 0.4 cm, usually on poor skeletal soils, often with deep leaf litter and sparse understory. Eucalyptus dawsonii Slaty Box
Eucalyptus dawsonii buds and fruit
Eucalyptus dawsonii trunk
2* Not as above 3
3 Trunk sometimes with scribbles,sub parallel venation on leaves. Tree usually to 20m (much taller in Coolah Tops), cold flat sites, deeper soils, alpine areas Eucalyptus pauciflora Snow Gum
Eucalyptus pauciflora leaf
3* Trunk with scribbles, reticulate venation. Tree to 20m or often a mallee, generally on poor soils with low rainfall, south west of Merriwa Eucalyptus rossii Scribbly Gum
4 Bark shedding in long ribbons (Ribbon Gums) 5
4* Bark not as above Next month
Typical Ribbon Gum bark.
5 Buds and fruits in groups of 3. Tree to 30m (sometimes 50), bark smooth or persistent on lower trunk, grey to grey black, shortly fibrous, hard, platy, smooth above, white, grey or yellow, shedding in long ribbons, on fertile loamy soils, generally above 500m.
Eucalyptus viminalis Ribbon Gum
5* Buds and fruits in groups of 7 6
6 Juvenile leaves sessile, orbicular or elliptic to oblong, 12 x 7 cm pale to bluish green, adult leaves lanceolate to narrow lanceolate, 21 x 2.5cm, with scattered obscure oil glands. Tree to 40m, bark smooth or sometimes persistent on lower trunk (short stocking only), grey, fibrous, flaky, smooth above, white, grey, pink or yellow, shedding in long ribbons, loamy or sandy soils at high elevations, Barrington Tops. Subspecies dalrympleana generally found south from Putty, buds and fruit in groups of 3 Eucalyptus dalrympleana ssp heptantha Mountain Gum
Eucalyptus dalrympleana buds
Eucalyptus dalrympleana fruit
6* Juvenile leaves amplexicaul, lanceolate to broad lanceolate, 15 x 5cm, green, adult leaves lanceolate to narrow lanceolate, 20 x 3 cm, with numerous, mostly island, oil glands. Tree to 50m, sometimes 70, bark smooth white, grey, green or yellow, shedding in long ribbons, fertile, loamy soils, Barrington Tops. Eucalyptus nobilis Ribbon Gum