Eucalyptus saligna

A large tree that can become a giant, growing to 60 metres tall, with a narrow-ish canopy and forming a lignotuber.

It grows to as far south as Port Jackson (Sydney) then northwards, frequently along the coast to Maryborough in central Queensland. Then there are disjunct populations further north around near Gladstone, Blackwater, Carnarvon National Park and Mackay. It forms an integral part of many vegetation communities including the endangered Blue Gum High Forest Ecological Community in the Sydney region.

Populations found south of Port Jackson are now considered to be E. saligna x botryoides – a common tree in South Coast vegetation, especially around Kangaroo Valley.

There are some spectacular remnant specimens in Sydney’s northern suburbs (Pymble, Pennant Hills, Wahroonga etc.), many of which persist in weed-infested or fragmented bushland, or, growing tall above houses.

The bark is smooth, pale grey or white with usually some rough brownish bark at the base of the trunk (referred to a ‘sock’).

Eucalyptus spp. have simple and usually alternate adult leaves with juvenile leaves starting off opposite to alternate (disjunct). In this species, juvenile/coppicing growth has lanceolate to ovate or oblong leaves, that are paler on the lower surface, to 120 mm long and to 40 mm wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, glossy green, paler on the lower surface, lanceolate to falcate, to 190 mm long and to 40 mm wide, on a petiole to 30 mm long.

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 seven, nine or eleven; the individual buds sessile or on pedicels up to 5 mm long. Mature buds are spindle-shaped, oval or diamond-shaped, to 10 mm long and to 5 mm wide with a conical or beaked operculum/calyptra. Flowers are white and occurs from December to March.

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 capsule is a woody cylindrical, conical or cup-shaped capsule to 9 mm long and to 7 mm wide with the valves protruding above the rim (exserted) and an outward direction from the centre.