Eucryphia lucida (Labill.) Baill.

Leatherwood

A tall evergreen shrub or tree that can grow to 30 m tall in nature but is much smaller in cultivation. Young growth sticky. Leaves opposite, lanceolate-elliptic with a blunt, rounded tip, to nearly 5 cm long, the lower surface white or waxy-blue; stipules fused across the stem at the base of the petioles. Flowers solitary on stalks to about 1 cm long, in the axils towards the tips of the branchlets; late spring to early summer. Petals 4, orbicular, white.

E. ×intermedia Bausch is the hybrid E. glutinosa × E. lucida. Intermediate in characters between its parents, this is a shrub or small tree with variable leaves, and flowers that appear in late summer and autumn.The original clone arose as a chance seedling at the Rostrevor Garden, Co. Down, Ireland, and 'Rostrevor' is the name for clones of the original cross.

Tas.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Eucryphiaceae. 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.

Hero image
Distribution map

Eucryphia lucida 'Ballerina'

Flowers large, pink, shading darker towards the tips; stamens red. Int. c. 1990.

Eucryphia lucida 'Gilt Edge'

Leaves edged with gold. Int. c. 1990.

Eucryphia lucida 'Leatherwood Cream'

Leaves with edges variegated green and cream. Int. c. 1974.

Eucryphia lucida 'Penwith'

This was originally described as a selection of the hybrid e. cordifolia _ e. lucida but with larger flowers than e. lucida and with purple-tipped stamens. The name has since been associated with e. _hillieri, a hybrid e. lucida _ e. moorei with compound leaves and entire leaflets that is not currently cultivated in Australia.

Eucryphia lucida 'Pink Cloud'

Flowers pale pink. Int. 1985. Selected from a wild population near Smithton in NWTas in 1984. E. milliganii Hook. f., also from Tas, is a tougher species than e. lucida but with smaller habit, being generally less than 3 m tall, and also with smaller leaves and flowers. Natural hybrids occur between these 2 species and are intermediate in habit and structure.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Rosanae
order      Oxalidales
family       Cunoniaceae
genus        Eucryphia Cav.