Among the many symbols that are quintessentially Australian, the native “gum
trees” with their unique scent and leaf shape must rank among them. There are
about 800 species of eucalyptus, with about 12 species that occur naturally
outside of Australia, and of that only 2 species not found in Australia. One of
these are Eucalyptus deglupta, which is found in the northern hemisphere,
as well as in the southern Philippines, New Guinea and parts of Indonesia.
The
common usage of the term “eucalypt” was a term applied to the genus Eucalyptus.
With recent advances in classification methods, many eucalyptus have now lost
the “Eucalpytus” part of their name, being re-classified into the closely related genera
Angophora and Corymbia. The red flowering gum
from Western Australia, formerly E. ficifolia, is now Corymbia
ficifolia, with the lemon-scented gum, E. citriodora, now named
C. citriodora. As botanist continue their work, there will no doubt be many
more changes, although they will all no doubt, still belong to the family
Myrtaceae.
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Common names
Although many people call eucalpyts “gum trees”, even this is strictly not
correct. The term “gum” actually refers to smooth-barks. There are in fact many
common names applied to the so called “eucalypt” group, such as ash, bangalay,
blackbutt, bloodwood, box, coolibah, grey gum, ironbark, mahogany, mallee,
messmate, peppermint, red gum, ribbon gum, scribbly gum, stringy bark and
tallowwood.
In more scientific terms the genera Eucalyptus include the Gums,
Corymbia include the Bloodwoods and Ghost Gums, and Angophora include
the Apples. Growth, Safety and Widow Makers
As they grow, many eucalypts have a tendency for their lower branches to drop
off. Some species are more prone to this than others, such as the lemon-scented gum,
E. citriodora, also
known as the “widow maker”. With the drought being experienced in different
parts of Australia, more eucalypts in these areas are dropping branches as they
struggle to survive the drought. And if rain and winds are add to the
environment, the chances are more trees will be blown over. Care should be taken
and consideration given to parking and camping under trees of this nature.
Source: see links below. |
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