Eucalyptus rubida

A tree, growing to 40 m high (although usually seen much smaller in many habitats).

It is almost purely confined to the tablelands-areas in NSW, growing to both borderlines, possibly extending just into Queensland around Warwick, and extending through most of Victoria as far west as Horsham. It also grows in Tasminia, roughly between Hobart and Greak Lake / Yingina.

It is typically found on shallow rocky soils or alluvial flats (sands to loams) on hills and slopes in cold areas, forming part of dry sclerophyll woodland and forests.

Bark is smooth, powdery, greyish or pink and is shed in long ribbons but there is sometimes persistent fibrous bark near the base of the trunk. Large mature trees have bark resembling the ‘wax of a burning candle’ – hence one of the common names.

Eucalyptus spp. have simple and usually alternate adult leaves with juvenile leaves starting off opposite to alternate (disjunct). In this species, juvenile/coppicing leaves are sessile, glaucous, and more or less round, to 60 mm wide, arranged in opposite pairs – blue-ish to blue-green or more green. This appearance of this growth is a very useful and relied-on identification feature. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, lanceolate to falcate, to 175 mm long and to 35 mm wide, tapering to a petiole to 35 mm long, usually mid-green or blue-green in colour. At times, leaves can have a really thin texture.

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 umbellasters of mostly 3 but sometimes to 7, up to 9 mm long and to 5 mm wide with a conical to rounded operculum/ calyptra (when in 3s – they are another useful identification feature, especially when combined with the juvenile growth). Flowers are white and occurs from December to April.

The fruit of eucalypts are a woody capsule (commonly called ‘gum nuts’) which come in a wide variety of shapes with the top part having a sunken, flat or raised disc and with the valves inserted, disc-level, exserted to strongly exserted. In this species, the fruit is a capsule, hemispherical or bell-shaped to 6 mm long and 8 mm wide with the valves near rim level or protruding slightly (exserted).