Eucalyptus melliodora

A tree reaching 30 metres tall with a canopy spread to 10 or 15 metres. They can be found at a wide range of sizes in their habitats.

The base of the trunk and lower branches has fibrous-flaky box bark, grey to pale-brown or yellow brown. In a lot of trees, the bark has a sinuous pattern as it goes up the branches (a useful identification feature). The upper branches are bare, sometimes with ribbons of bark hanging down.

It is a very common tree in inland NSW, especially on the tablelands and western slopes and it would be a contender for the most prolific eucalypt in these parts (even though many have been cleared on farmland). It can be found as far east as around Canyonleigh-Bullio area and possibly Lake Burragorang and just west of Batemans Bay. East of these areas, it extends along the entirety of the state from north to south, west to around Griffith, Dubbo and Baradine. It extends up into Queensland in the eastern and central parts, to about Gladstone and Springsure. It grows through most of Victoria, with the exception of the north-west and very south-west.

It grows in a range of habitats including the listed threatened White Box – Yellow Box – Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Box Woodlands, often on heavier soils and the more fertile country, but may also be found on rocky-shallow soils where trees are usually shorter.

Eucalyptus spp. have simple and usually alternate adult leaves with juvenile leaves starting off opposite to alternate (disjunct). In this species, the juvenile foliage / coppicing growth is alternate, blue-green to grey green, and elliptic, usually to 5 cm long and about 2 cm wide.

The adult leaves are disjunct, elliptic to shortly-lanceolate or lanceolate, to 14 cm long and to about 2 cm wide, green to blue-green to grey-green, concolorous. A useful identification feature is an intra-marginal vein which runs around around the leaf edge, along with young stems being red. The other useful identification feature is the often short blue-green elliptic leaves observed.

The primary inflorescence of “eucalypts” (Angophora / Corymbia / Eucalyptus) is an umbellaster (an umbel-like cluster of flowers). In the flowers of Corymbia and Eucalyptus, the petals and sepals are fused into the distinctive calyptra / operculum (bud cap) which is shed when the flower opens (in some species, 2 bud caps (opercula) are shed). The flowers are conspicuously staminate – where many stamens are basically taking over the role of the petals, all surrounding one central carpel. In this species, the flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups (umbellasters) of 7. Mature buds are ovoid to 8 mm long and 4 mm wide with a conical and slightly-beaked operculum / calyptra. Flowering occurs between October and June and the flowers are white.

Eucalyptus produce a capsule (gum-nut) which house valves which open to release the seed. The fruits (capsules) of some boxes have a cylindrical to urceolate shape. In this species, the capsules are globose, hemispherical or ovoid, (more of a round wine-glass) with the disc depressed and valves enclosed, to about 8 mm long by 7 mm wide.