Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Forest Red Gum

Eucalyptus tereticornis ssp. tereticornis

Description:

A very handsome-looking eucalypt, and this one with a double (split) trunk. Also known as red irongum and Queensland blue gum, the species is native to eastern Australia and belongs to the myrtle family Myrtaceae. The common names come from the beautiful rich red of the inner timber, and the blue hues of the outer trunk and branches. This is also an important "food" tree species for native animals - koalas eat the leaves, yellow-bellied gliders eat the sap, and the flowers attract birds like honeyeaters and lorikeets. Can grow to a height of 50 metres with a girth of up to 2 metres, although I reckon this one exceeded that. The photos don't give any sense of scale. The trunk is straight and is usually un-branched for more than half of the total height of the tree. Thereafter, limbs are unusually steeply inclined for a Eucalyptus species. The bark is shed in irregular sheets, resulting in a smooth trunk surface coloured in patches of white, grey and blue, corresponding to areas that shed their bark at different times.

Habitat:

Spotted at margin of native rainforest along the Reservoir Track in the Brisbane Forest Park. Deep alluvial soil close to the reservoir, in a small gully that channels rain water into a reservoir itself. Seen most often along creek terraces.

Notes:

The epitome of indecisiveness - common names for this species: forest red gum, bastard box, blue gum, flooded gum, grey gum, mountain gum, Queensland blue gum, red gum, red ironbark, red irongum, and slaty gum. The second one baffles me, but it's hilarious :D

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

2 Comments

Neil Ross
Neil Ross 8 years ago

You reckon they stuffed up?

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 8 years ago

Ha ha.. love pic 3.. so glad they buried him upside down.

Neil Ross
Spotted by
Neil Ross

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Spotted on Mar 29, 2015
Submitted on Apr 7, 2015

Related Spottings

Rainbow Eucalyptus Tasmanian blue gum Eucalyptus Red Gum (Eucalyptus)

Nearby Spottings

Common Eggfly (female) Black Jezabel Red Natal Grass Brazilian Nightshade
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team