Last month we looked at the Grey Gums and Blue Gums, this month we’re on to the Red Gums, the defining characteristics for the Red Gums is smooth bark, gumnuts (fruits) with raised discs and exserted valves and the leaves same colour on both sides (concolorous). The Red Gums contain the icon of Australian rivers the River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis).
Eucalyptus flower parts (note, calyptera is also known as the operculum)
Image from plantnet.nsw.gov.au
Eucalyptus blakelyi leaf showing same colour top and bottom (concolorous),
Eucalyptus blakleyi fruit with raised disc and exserted valves
1 Buds and/or fruits and or/stems glaucous (blue-grey colour) 2
1* Buds, fruits and stems not glaucous 4
2 Operculum (flower cap) longer than hypanthium (flower base) (about 1.5x), buds slender, valves generally 3 or 4. Tree to 20m, bark smooth, patchy, white, grey to brown or red, shedding in large plates or flakes, moderately fertile soils, common west of Singleton. Eucalyptus blakelyi Blakely’s Red Gum
2* Operculum about equal to hypanthium, buds robust 3
3 Fruit with ascending disc, buds to 1.5cm long usually with prominent operculum scar. Tree to 30 m high; bark smooth, white or grey, shedding in large plates or flakes, deep, moderately fertile, well watered soil, Broke to Taree, vulnerable under State and Federal legislation. Eucalyptus glaucina Slaty Red Gum
3* Fruit with level to slightly ascending disc, buds to 1cm long. Tree to 15m, bark, smooth, white and grey, or grey brown, shedding in large plates or flakes, grassy woodland on skeletal soils, Murrurundi, Wingen, Goulburn River National Park
Eucalyptus dealbata Tumbledown Red Gum
Eucalyptus dealbata fruit
4 Mallee, disc flat or slightly ascending. Mallee or tree to 15m, bark smooth (sometimes shedding irregularly, white to grey or grey brown, shedding in plates or flakes, shallow infertile soils, Goulburn River National Park, West of Denman.
Eucalyptus dwyeri Dwyer’s Mallee/Dwyer’s Red Gum
4* Tree 5
5 Operculum peaked, roughly as long as the hypanthium, fruit flattened. Tree to 30m (sometimes taller) bark smooth, white, grey to red brown, shedding in short ribbons or flakes, deep rich, fertile soils, generally along waterways upstream of Hinton.
Eucalyptus camaldulensis River Red Gum
(can hybridise with E. blakelyi, buds similar to E. melliodora, check fruits and bark)
Eucalyptus camaldulensis buds and fruit
5* Operculum not peaked 6
6 Operculum at least 1.5 times as long as hypanthium 7
6* Operculum roughly same length and width as hypanthium, fruit 0.4-0.9 cm long x 0.5-0.9 cm diameter, hemispherical, leaves narrow lanceolate to lanceolate, to 7-20 cm long x 1-3.5 cm wide. Tree to 15m, bark smooth, white or grey, shedding in large plates or flakes, sandy soils, low, often wet sites.. Eucalyptus parramattensis ssp parramattensis Parramatta Red Gum ( fruit usually less than 7mm dia Goulburn River National Park south west of Merriwa)
Eucalyptus parramattensis ssp decadens
(Fruit usually greater than 7mm dia, Cessnock to Port Stephens, (Vulnerable under both federal and state legislation)
7 Operculum 1.5 times as long as hypanthium, fruit 0.7 x 0.8cm, valves 3 or 4. Tree to 20m, bark smooth, patchy, white, grey to brown or red, shedding in large plates or flakes, moderately fertile soils, common.
Eucalyptus blakelyi Blakely’s Red Gum
(can hybridise with E. camaldulensis)
Eucalyptus blakelyi buds
7* Operculum roughly twice as long as hypanthium, fruit 0.7 x 0.8cm, valves 4 or 5. Tree to 50m, bark smooth, white or grey, shedding in large plates or flakes, common on generally moist soils of medium to high fertility, common.
Eucalyptus tereticornis Forest Red Gum
Eucalyptus tereticornis buds