The River Red Gum tree (species name: Eucalyptus camuldulensis) is a common "Gum" tree along river beds across inland Australia and is also a popular plantation tree in many other parts of the world. In Southern Europe and Northern Africa the River Red Gum can be found growing spontaneously along water ways downstream from where it has been planted in plantations. The term "Red" in its common name refers to the color of its wood when milled.
Like many other Eucalyptus trees the flowers of the River Red Gum have a cone shaped cap that protects the flower while it is forming and then pops off when the flower is ready to "unfold" as can be seen in the images below.
The individual flowers are arranged in small clusters that themselves are star shaped like the one above. The picture below shows some of the detached "caps" that pop off the end of the flower buds.
After the flowers have wilted and fallen off there remains on the tree a cluster of small "fruits" that have valve like openings on the end in a star like shape. As you can see in the image below these star-like openings can have 3-6 points. The seeds inside these small fruits are released through these openings. These woody, dried fruits can be easily found at the base of the River Red Gum trees and is a good way to help identify the tree and distinguish it from other Gums.
The large tree in the image below is a tree in the "Molino de Inca" botanical garden in Torremolinos, Spain (along the Southern "Sun Coast"). It is quite common to find large specimens of the Eucalyptus camuldulensis in botanical gardens in Spain.
The leaves of the River Red Gum are long and slender with a pronounced central vein. They measure about 4-7 inches in length and about 1 inch in width.
Some other Gum trees that I have blogged about are...
Coral Gum Tree - Eucaluptus Torquata
Tasmanian Blue Gum - Eucalyptus Globulus
What makes Eucalyptus fires dangerous
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