Eucalyptus saligna Sm.

Sydney Blue Gum

Tall tree sometimes growing naturally over 50 m tall. Bark flaky at the base but soon smooth, white to grey-blue. Juvenile leaves ovate to broadly lanceolate. Adult leaves lanceolate; blade mostly 10-17 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, upper and lower surfaces different shades of green. Leaf stalk 1.5-2.5 cm long. Flowers white, in clusters of 7-11, common stalk flattened, mostly 5-18 mm long, individual stalks absent or to 3 mm long; Jan-Mar. Fruits 5-8 mm long, 4-7 mm wide with valves spreading outwards.

Grows naturally in E Qld from W of Mackay, S to Batemans Bay, NSW, in open forest.

Qld, NSW.

Leaves paler below; fruit with 3-4 protruding, spreading valves. Similar to E. grandis, Flooded Gum, from Qld and NSW which has incurved, not spreading, valves (there is a fine specimen in the Melbourne Domain opposite the Museum of Contemporary Art in Dallas Brooks Dr.).

ACT: Yarralumla (Westbourne Woods, 5th hole). VIC: Melbourne (Royal Bot. Gds, next to Tea House by lake; parks around Melbourne).

Source: Spencer, R.; Rule, K. (2002). Eucalyptus. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

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Distribution map
kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Rosanae
order      Myrtales
family       Myrtaceae
genus        Eucalyptus L'Hér.