Sydney Blue Gum

Description:

The Sydney Blue Gum is a large Australian flowering eucalypt that belongs to the family Myrtaceae, and is common along the New South Wales seaboard and into southeast Queensland. It is a tall tree species and can reach a height of 65 metres (213 feet). The trunk has smooth bark, usually pale bluish-grey to cream, pink or brown, plus a long (1 to 4 metre high) 'skirt' of rough, flaky, brownish-grey bark at the base. Trees live for over two hundred years, and it's an important food tree for a variety of native fauna including the grey-headed flying fox, koala, and crimson rosella. It is definitely one of Australia's largest tree species, and to see a forest of blue gums is something to behold. It is, without a doubt, the quintessential Australian eucalypt species, and I am always so excited to encounter them :)

Habitat:

Ravensbourne National Park, spotted along the rainforest tracks near an area called 'eucalypt junction'. Despite this country currently being in drought, this rainforest is still dense, moist and cool, and water still trickles in its creeks and gullies, mainly because the creeks like Buaraba are spring-fed. Dense canopy produces very filtered light, and abundant leaf litter helps retain moisture, keeping temperatures reasonably cool. Neighbouring groves of Piccabeen Palms (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) which these blue gums tower over - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/14... Park elevation is above 500 mtrs. Here's some park info - https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/raven...

Notes:

An excellent site I found that's useful for identifying Australian eucalypt species. http://www.allcreativedesigns.com.au/pag...