River Red-Gum

River Red-Gum photos

Family: Myrtle (Myrtaceae)

Scientific Name:

Eucalyptus camaldulensis

River Red-gum - normal form tree
Photo: A J Brown

River Red Gum dwarf tree

River Red-gum - dwarf form tree
Photo: A J Brown

Other Common Names:

Murray Red Gum, Red Gum, River Gum

Status:

Widespread native across all mainland Australia.

Plant Description:

Medium to tall tree to 40 m high, with a large spreading crown. Bark is smooth, mottled white, yellow and grey and shedding at intervals throughout the year. Rough at the base of the treee. Leaves alternate, broadly lanceolate, to 11 cm long and 3 cm wide, dull green, with numerous clear, yellow and green oil glands.

Flowers white, borne in clusters of 7, each cluster at the end of a slender common stalk 2 cm long. Buds to 1 cm long, 0.5 cm wide, the cap hemispherical and beaked. Fruit hemispherical, to 0.6 cm long and 1 cm wide, on a very short stalk, the valves exserted. Flowering summer.

Habitat:

Widespread along rivers and flood-plains across Australia. It also occurs on heavy clay soils of the Volcanic plains and on the edges of salt lakes and swamps. River Red-gum is considered to have moderate tolerance to salinity.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
*Mallee, Loddon Murray, Central and Northern, Wimmera, Western, Gippsland	S0, S1, S2	W1, W2

*largely confined to the Murray River

Comments:

This species displays considerable variation in morphology across its range. It also varies widely in its salinity and waterlogging tolerance and selection of appropriate clones is important when used for rehabilitation. Aboriginals used River Red-gum bark for canoe and shield making. In more recent times, the wood has been highly prized for heavy construction, railway sleepers, fencing, wood turning, firewood and charcoal production. It is also an important source of honey.

River Red-Gum Photos

River Red-gum - bark Photo: A J Brown	River Red-gum - buds Photo: A J Brown
River Red-gum - leaves Photo: A J Brown	River Red-gum - dead and live trees at salt limit Photo: A J Brown
River Red-gum - fruit Photo: A J Brown	River Red-gum - trunk Photo: A J Brown

Related Links

CSIRO - Technical Publication - River red-gum (external link)
CSIRO Publishing - Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture - Survival and growth of the tree species and provenances in response to salinity on a discharge site (external link). This paper examines salt tolerance of a range of tree species, including River Red-gum and Eumong
CSIRO Publishing - The Response of six Eucalyptus Species and Casuarina obesa to the Combined Effect of Salinity and Waterlogging (external link). To view the information PDF requires the use of a PDF reader. This can be installed for free from the Adobe website (external link).

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