Eucalyptus punctata
| Grey gum | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Eucalyptus |
| Species: | E. punctata |
| Binomial name | |
|
Eucalyptus punctata DC. |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Eucalyptus shiressii Maiden & Blakely |
|
Eucalyptus shiressii Maiden & Blakely
Eucalyptus tereticornis var. brachycorys Benth.,
Eucalyptus punctata, commonly known as grey gum, is a large tree of the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, native to South East Queensland and eastern New South Wales, where it specialises in poor soils such as Sydney sandstone. Its leaves are one of the favoured foods of the koala. The tree's common name comes from its bark, which takes a greyish cast at about one year of age (see photograph). On most trees this bark is partly shed, revealing a bare and slightly orange or brown tinted smooth surface. The white flowers appear over the summer.
Swiss naturalist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle first described the grey gum in 1828. Common names include grey gum and grey irongum. The species name is the Latin adjective punctata "spotted" and refers to the oil glands which give the leaves a dotted appearance.
It is one a group of related species known collectively as large-fruited grey gums found in eastern Australia, the others being E. longirostrata from eastern Queensland, E. biturbinata from the New England region, and E. canaliculata from the vicinity of Gloucester and Dungog in central-northern New South Wales.
The grey gum grows as a large tree to 35 m (115 ft) high, with bark of various shades of grey, white and orange hues, which sheds in large sheets, giving the trunk a patchy appearance. The glossy dark green adult leaves are falcate (sickle-shaped) or lanceolate and measure 8–15 cm (3–6 in) in length by 1.5–3 cm (0.59–1.18 in) wide. The flowers are white, and are in bloom from December to March.
The range is from the Liverpool Range to Nowra in central New South Wales, most commonly on transition zone soil type between sandstone and shale.
It grows in tall open sclerophyll forest, associated with such species as red bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera), pink bloodwood (C. intermedia), spotted gum (C. maculata), white stringybark (E. globoidea), sydney peppermint (E. piperita), blackbutt (E. pilularis), yellow box (E. melliodora), mountain grey gum (E. cypellocarpa), narrow-leaved ironbark (E. crebra), grey ironbark (E. paniculata), broad-leaved white mahogany (E. umbra), white mahogany (E. acmenoides), and apples (Angophora species).
...
Wikipedia