Eucalyptus grandis
Encyclopedia
Eucalyptus grandis, commonly known as the Flooded gum or Rose gum, is a tall tree with smooth bark
, rough at the base fibrous or flaky, grey to grey-brown. At maturity, it reaches 50 metres (160 ft) tall, though the largest specimens can exceed 80 metres (250 ft) tall.
It is found on coastal areas and sub-coastal ranges from Newcastle
in New South Wales
northwards to west of Daintree
in Queensland
, mainly on flat land and lower slopes, where it is the dominant tree of wet forests and on the margins of rainforests.
) and the mountain blue gum (E. deanei
).
of 1.2 to 2 m (4-7 ft). The biggest trees can reach 75 m (250 ft) high and 3 m (10 ft) dbh, the tallest recorded known as "The Grandis" near Bulahdelah, with a height of 86 m (282 ft) and a girth of 8.5 m (28 ft). The bole is straight for 2/3rds to 3/4 the height of the tree. The bark is smooth and powdery, pale- or blue-grey to white in colour, with a skirt of rough brownish bark for the bottom 1-4 m of the tree trunk. The glossy dark green leaves
are stalked, lanceolate to broad lanceolate, and paler on their undersides, 10 to 16 cm (4-6.4 in) long and 2-3 cm (0.8-1.2 in) wide. They are arranged alternately along the branches. The white flowers appear from mid autumn to late winter from April to August, and are arranged in groups of seven to eleven flowerheads. The flowers are followed by small pear- or cone-shaped gumnuts which measure 5–8 mm in length and 4–7 mm across.
The Sydney blue gum (E saligna) is very similar in appearance and overlaps E. grandis in the southern part of its range, but has narrower leaves and more bell-shaped gumnuts with protruding valves. It also has a lignotuber. The mountain blue gum (E. deanei) can be distinguished by its entirely smooth bark and wider adult leaves.
in New South Wales
northwards to Bundaberg
in central Queensland with disjunct populations further north near Mackay
, Townsville and Daintree
in northern Queensland
, mainly on flat land and lower slopes. The soils are deep fertile alluvial loams. The annual rainfall varies from 1100 to 3500 mm. It is the dominant tree of wet forest and rainforest margins, either growing in pure stands or mixed with trees such as blackbutt (E. pilularis
), tallowwood (E. microcorys), red mahogany (E. resinifera
), Sydney blue gum (E. saligna), pink bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia
), turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera
), brush box (Lophostemon confertus
) and forest oak (Allocasuarina torulosa
).
Flooded gum is an attractive, straight-trunked tree much in demand outside Australia
for timber and pulp, and extensive plantations exist in South Africa and Brazil. Within Australia, plantations exist in northern New South Wales, where seedlings have put on 7 metres (23 ft) of growth in their first year. The timber has a pinkish tinge and is used in joinery, flooring, boat building, panelling and plywood. It has a straight grain, and moderate durability and strength, and is resistant to Lyctus
borers. Hybrids with river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) are used to combat salinity.
Eucalyptus grandis has been grown successfully in plantations in wetter areas of Sri Lanka, particularly in the Badulla
and Nuwara Eliya District
s. Many parameters of climate and soil are similar to eastern Australia, and it has grown well on plains as well as hills previously used for growing tea. Grown for its wood and ease of cultivation, it is the fastest growing eucalypt in the country.
The tree is too large for most gardens, but makes an attractive tree for large parks and farms, and can be used in riverbank stabilisation.
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
, rough at the base fibrous or flaky, grey to grey-brown. At maturity, it reaches 50 metres (160 ft) tall, though the largest specimens can exceed 80 metres (250 ft) tall.
It is found on coastal areas and sub-coastal ranges from Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
northwards to west of Daintree
Daintree, Queensland
Daintree is a settlement in North Queensland located 111 kilometres north of Cairns and 56 kilometres from Port Douglas, Queensland. The McDowell Ranges are near the town while the Daintree River flows nearby. It takes its name from Richard Daintree, a pioneering geologist of British origin in...
in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, mainly on flat land and lower slopes, where it is the dominant tree of wet forests and on the margins of rainforests.
Taxonomy
Eucalyptus grandis was first described by W. Hill in 1862. The species name grandis "large" relates to this tree's large size. It is commonly known as the flooded gum, and is also called rose gum in Queensland. It has been classified in the subgenus Symphyomyrtus, Section Latoangulatae, Series Transversae (eastern blue gums) by Brooker and Kleinig. Its two closest relatives are the Sydney blue gum (Eucalyptus salignaEucalyptus saligna
Eucalyptus saligna, known as the Sydney Blue Gum, is a large Australian hardwood tree common along the New South Wales seaboard and into Queensland, reaching about 65 metres in height...
) and the mountain blue gum (E. deanei
Eucalyptus deanei
Eucalyptus deanei, the Mountain Blue Gum is a eucalyptus tree of mountain country of central New South Wales. Eucalyptus deanei is a large to very large tree, usually 30 to 50 metres tall, sometimes achieving a much greater height...
).
Description
Eucalyptus grandis grows as a straight and tall forest tree, reaching around 50 m (160 ft) tall, with a dbhDiameter at breast height
Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements....
of 1.2 to 2 m (4-7 ft). The biggest trees can reach 75 m (250 ft) high and 3 m (10 ft) dbh, the tallest recorded known as "The Grandis" near Bulahdelah, with a height of 86 m (282 ft) and a girth of 8.5 m (28 ft). The bole is straight for 2/3rds to 3/4 the height of the tree. The bark is smooth and powdery, pale- or blue-grey to white in colour, with a skirt of rough brownish bark for the bottom 1-4 m of the tree trunk. The glossy dark green leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are stalked, lanceolate to broad lanceolate, and paler on their undersides, 10 to 16 cm (4-6.4 in) long and 2-3 cm (0.8-1.2 in) wide. They are arranged alternately along the branches. The white flowers appear from mid autumn to late winter from April to August, and are arranged in groups of seven to eleven flowerheads. The flowers are followed by small pear- or cone-shaped gumnuts which measure 5–8 mm in length and 4–7 mm across.
The Sydney blue gum (E saligna) is very similar in appearance and overlaps E. grandis in the southern part of its range, but has narrower leaves and more bell-shaped gumnuts with protruding valves. It also has a lignotuber. The mountain blue gum (E. deanei) can be distinguished by its entirely smooth bark and wider adult leaves.
Distribution and habitat
E. grandis is found on coastal areas and sub-coastal ranges from the vicinity of NewcastleNewcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
northwards to Bundaberg
Bundaberg, Queensland
Bundaberg is a city in Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Local Government Area of the Bundaberg Region and is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett geographical region...
in central Queensland with disjunct populations further north near Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
, Townsville and Daintree
Daintree, Queensland
Daintree is a settlement in North Queensland located 111 kilometres north of Cairns and 56 kilometres from Port Douglas, Queensland. The McDowell Ranges are near the town while the Daintree River flows nearby. It takes its name from Richard Daintree, a pioneering geologist of British origin in...
in northern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, mainly on flat land and lower slopes. The soils are deep fertile alluvial loams. The annual rainfall varies from 1100 to 3500 mm. It is the dominant tree of wet forest and rainforest margins, either growing in pure stands or mixed with trees such as blackbutt (E. pilularis
Eucalyptus pilularis
Eucalyptus pilularis, commonly known as Blackbutt, is a common and dominant tree of the myrtaceae family native to southeastern Australia. A large tree, it is identified by the stocking of rough bark, to about half way up the trunk, above this is white smooth bark. The leaves are a uniform glossy...
), tallowwood (E. microcorys), red mahogany (E. resinifera
Eucalyptus resinifera
Eucalyptus resinifera , known as the Red Mahogany, is a common eucalyptus tree of eastern Australia. Its range of distribution is from Jervis Bay north to about Gladstone, Queensland in dry sclerophyll or wet sclerophyll forest habitats, preferring soils of a medium to high fertility.- Description :E...
), Sydney blue gum (E. saligna), pink bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia
Corymbia intermedia
Corymbia intermedia or the pink bloodwood is a bloodwood native to Queensland and New South Wales...
), turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera
Syncarpia glomulifera
Syncarpia glomulifera is a tree native to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, which can grow to more than 30 metres in height...
), brush box (Lophostemon confertus
Lophostemon confertus
The Brush Box, Lophostemon confertus, is a tree native to Australia, though it can be found in the United States and elsewhere. Quite frequently, it has been planted as a street tree, due to its hearty nature, its disease and pest resilience, high tolerance for smog, drought and poor drainage, as...
) and forest oak (Allocasuarina torulosa
Allocasuarina torulosa
Allocasuarina torulosa is a tree which grows in sub-rainforest of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. Originally described as Casuarina torulosa by William Aiton, it was moved to its current genus in 1982 by Australian botanist Lawrie Johnson...
).
Uses
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
for timber and pulp, and extensive plantations exist in South Africa and Brazil. Within Australia, plantations exist in northern New South Wales, where seedlings have put on 7 metres (23 ft) of growth in their first year. The timber has a pinkish tinge and is used in joinery, flooring, boat building, panelling and plywood. It has a straight grain, and moderate durability and strength, and is resistant to Lyctus
Lyctus (beetle)
Lyctus is a genus of beetles with a worldwide distribution, being present on all continents except Antarctica.-External links:*...
borers. Hybrids with river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) are used to combat salinity.
Eucalyptus grandis has been grown successfully in plantations in wetter areas of Sri Lanka, particularly in the Badulla
Badulla District
Badulla is a district in Uva Province, Sri Lanka. The entire land area of the Badulla district is 2,861 km² and total population is 837,000. The district is bounded by the districts of Monaragala and Rathnapura on the East & South, by Ampara and Kandy districts on the North and by Nuwara...
and Nuwara Eliya District
Nuwara Eliya District
Nuwara Eliya District is a district in Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its area is 1,228 km². Nuwara Eliya town is a tourist attraction.-Demographics:...
s. Many parameters of climate and soil are similar to eastern Australia, and it has grown well on plains as well as hills previously used for growing tea. Grown for its wood and ease of cultivation, it is the fastest growing eucalypt in the country.
The tree is too large for most gardens, but makes an attractive tree for large parks and farms, and can be used in riverbank stabilisation.