Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Eucalyptus robusta

Flower, buds, and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens, north of Moruya

Gumnuts. Photographers Forest & Kim Starr, Hawaii, USA

Trunk. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Tree. Australian Plant Image Index, photographers Brooker & Kleinig, unknown place

Common name

Swamp mahogany, Swamp messmate

Family

Myrtaceae

Where found

Heath and low swampy sites. Coastal north of Bermagui. Sydney area away from the coast.

Notes

Tree to 30 m tall.  Bark rough on all but the smallest branches, shortly fibrous, soft, thick, spongy, grey to brown or reddish brown.  Juvenile stems square in cross section, sometimes winged.  Juvenile leaves opposite each other for 5 to 7 pairs then alternating up the stems, 6-19 cm long, 25-80 mm wide, dull to glossy, green, upper and lower surfaces different colours.  Adult leaves alternating up the stems, 8.5-17 cm long, 25-70 mm wide, glossy, green, upper and lower surfaces different colours.  Flowers white, with 0 petals.  Flower clusters 7-15 flowered.  Mature flower buds 16-24 mm long, caps as long as the base.  Flowers Autumn-Spring.  Gumnuts 6-11 mm in diameter. Gumnuts that have dropped their seed have valves that are not very noticeable, remaining joined at the tips.

Hybrids with Eucalyptus tereticornis subsp. tereticornis are not uncommon where they occur in close proximity.

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Eucalyptus~robusta  (accessed 22 January, 2021)

EUCLID description:  https://apps.lucidcentral.org/euclid/text/entities/eucalyptus_robusta.htm  (accessed 22 January, 2021)