Grey Gum
Encyclopedia
Eucalyptus punctata, commonly known as Grey Gum, is a large tree of the myrtle family, Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae
The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...

, native to South East 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...

 and eastern 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...

, where it specialises in poor soils such as Sydney sandstone
Sydney sandstone
Sydney sandstone is the common name for Sydney Basin Hawkesbury Sandstone, historically known as Yellowblock, is a sedimentary rock named after the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this sandstone is particularly common....

. Its leaves are one of the favoured foods of the koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....

. The tree's common name comes from its bark, which takes a greyish cast at about one year of age (see photograph). On most trees this bark is partly shed, revealing a bare and slightly orange or brown tinted smooth surface. The white flowers appear over the summer.

Taxonomy

Swiss naturalist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle first described the grey gum in 1828. Common names include grey gum and grey irongum. The species name is the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 adjective punctata "spotted" and refers to the oil glands which give the leaves a dotted appearance.

It is one a group of related species known collectively as large-fruited grey gums found in eastern Australia, the others being E. longirostrata from eastern Queensland, E. biturbinata from the New England region, and E. canaliculata from the vicinity of Gloucester and Dungog in central-northern New South Wales.

Description

The grey gum grows as a large tree to 35 m (100 ft) high, with bark of various shades of grey, white and orange hues, which sheds in large sheets, giving the trunk a patchy appearance. The glossy dark green adult leaves are falcate (sickle-shaped) or lanceolate and measure 8–15 cm (3.4–6 in) in length by 1.5–3 cm (0.6–1.2 in) wide. The flowers are white, and are in bloom from December to March.

Distribution and habitat

The range is from the Liverpool Range
Liverpool Range
The Liverpool Range is a mountain range and a lava-field province in New South Wales, Australia.The Liverpool Range starts from the volcanic plateau known as the Barrington Tops and runs for about 100 km westwards, forming the northern boundary of the Hunter Valley district...

 to Nowra in central New South Wales, most commonly on transition zone soil type between sandstone and shale.

It grows in tall open sclerophyll forest, associated with such species as red bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera
Corymbia gummifera
Corymbia gummifera, commonly known as Red Bloodwood, is a hardwood tree native to eastern Australia.-Description:It usually grows as a tree, but may take the form of a mallee in very poor soils. As a tree it typically grows to a height of 20 to 34 metres and a trunk diameter of one metre dbh....

), pink bloodwood (C. intermedia
Corymbia intermedia
Corymbia intermedia or the pink bloodwood is a bloodwood native to Queensland and New South Wales...

), spotted gum (C. maculata
Corymbia maculata
Corymbia maculata , commonly known as Spotted Gum, is an endemic Australian tree.-Description:Spotted Gum is a medium to tall tree with a straight trunk, growing up to 70 metres in height. However, there is an old reference to a 91 metre tall tree...

), white stringybark (E. globoidea
Eucalyptus globoidea
Eucalyptus globoidea, known by the common name White Stringybark, is a tree native to eastern Australia. It has thick, fibrous bark usually colored light gray over reddish brown. It is also known for its distinctive glossy green leaves in its adult life...

), sydney peppermint (E. piperita
Eucalyptus piperita
Eucalyptus piperita, commonly known as Sydney Peppermint and Urn-fruited Peppermint, is a small to medium forest tree native to New South Wales, Australia.-Description:...

), 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...

), yellow box (E. melliodora
Eucalyptus melliodora
Eucalyptus melliodora, commonly known as Yellow Box, is a medium sized to occasionally tall eucalypt. The bark is variable ranging from smooth with an irregular, short stocking, to covering most of the trunk, fibrous, dense or loosely held, grey, yellow or red-brown, occasionally very coarse,...

), mountain grey gum (E. cypellocarpa
Eucalyptus cypellocarpa
Mountain Grey Gum also known as the Mountain Gum, Monkey Gum or Spotted Mountain Grey Gum, is a straight, smooth barked forest tree. Often seen around 20 to 40 metres tall...

), narrow-leaved ironbark (E. crebra
Eucalyptus crebra
Eucalyptus crebra, commonly known as the Narrow-leaved ironbark or Narrowleaf red ironbark, is a type of Ironbark tree native to eastern Australia. A member of the large genus Eucalyptus, this tree is in the Myrtaceae family and can grow to a large spreading tree up to 35 m high...

), grey ironbark (E. paniculata
Eucalyptus paniculata
Eucalyptus paniculata is a common eucalyptus tree of eastern New South Wales, Australia. A dark trunked forest tree with grey furrowed bark. When in flower, the nectar is attractive to birds and insects, and is used in honey production.- Habitat :The natural range of distribution is high rainfall...

), broad-leaved white mahogany (E. umbra
Eucalyptus umbra
Eucalyptus umbra, known as the Broad-leaved White Mahogany is a common eucalyptus tree of the high rainfall coastal areas of New South Wales and adjacent areas in south eastern Queensland. The bark is rough, resembling a "stringybark", though not as coarse, and in flat strips. Thick, fibrous bark,...

), white mahogany (E. acmenoides
Eucalyptus acmenoides
Eucalyptus acmenoides, the White Mahogany is a common eucalyptus tree of eastern Australia. In the northern part of Sydney, where this tree grows on clay soils, the indigenous name is Barayly....

), and apples (Angophora
Angophora
Angophora is a genus of ten species of trees or large shrubs in the myrtle family , native to eastern Australia. It is closely related to Corymbia and Eucalyptus, and all three are often referred to as "eucalypts". The differences are that Angophora have opposite leaves rather than alternate, and...

species).

Ecology

The grey gum regenerates by regrowing from the base and branches after bushfire. Trees live for over a hundred years. The Grey-headed Flying Fox
Grey-headed Flying Fox
The Grey-headed Flying-Fox, Pteropus poliocephalus, is a megabat native to Australia.Members of the genus Pteropus include the largest bats in the world. The Pteropus genus has currently about 57 recognised species....

 (Pteropus poliocephalus) eats the flowers, while the leaves form a staple of the diet of the Koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....

 (Phascolarctos cinereus). Leaves in winter contain less nitrogen than those in summer, which the koalas make up for by eating more in winter months. The Brown-headed Honeyeater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
The Brown-headed Honeyeater is a species of passerine bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation....

 (Melithreptus brevirostris) and Yellow-tufted Honeyeater
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater
The Yellow-tufted Honeyeater is a passerine bird found in the south-east ranges of Australia from south-east Queensland through eastern New South Wales and across Victoria into the tip of Southeastern South Australia...

(Lichenostomus melanops) have been observed eating gum exudate from the stems.

Uses

The timber is very hard and durable, and used in construction and for railway sleepers. The multicoloured bark of Eucalyptus punctata that appears from time to time gives the tree some horticultural appeal, and it has potential applications in large parks, reserves and fields.
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