Eucalyptus oreades
Credits
Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton
Recommended citation
'Eucalyptus oreades' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
Common Names
- Blue Mountains Ash
Other taxa in genus
- Eucalyptus acaciiformis
- Eucalyptus albida
- Eucalyptus amygdalina
- Eucalyptus archeri
- Eucalyptus blakelyi
- Eucalyptus bridgesiana
- Eucalyptus brookeriana
- Eucalyptus camaldulensis
- Eucalyptus camphora
- Eucalyptus chapmaniana
- Eucalyptus cinerea
- Eucalyptus coccifera
- Eucalyptus cordata
- Eucalyptus crenulata
- Eucalyptus cypellocarpa
- Eucalyptus dalrympleana
- Eucalyptus delegatensis
- Eucalyptus elliptica
- Eucalyptus fastigata
- Eucalyptus fraxinoides
- Eucalyptus globulus
- Eucalyptus gregsoniana
- Eucalyptus gunnii
- Eucalyptus johnstonii
- Eucalyptus kybeanensis
- Eucalyptus lacrimans
- Eucalyptus laophila
- Eucalyptus leucoxylon
- Eucalyptus macarthurii
- Eucalyptus macrorhyncha
- Eucalyptus mannifera
- Eucalyptus melliodora
- Eucalyptus mitchelliana
- Eucalyptus moorei
- Eucalyptus morrisbyi
- Eucalyptus neglecta
- Eucalyptus nicholii
- Eucalyptus nitens
- Eucalyptus nova-anglica
- Eucalyptus obliqua
- Eucalyptus ovata
- Eucalyptus parvula
- Eucalyptus pauciflora
- Eucalyptus praecox
- Eucalyptus radiata
- Eucalyptus regnans
- Eucalyptus remota
- Eucalyptus risdonii
- Eucalyptus rodwayi
- Eucalyptus rubida
- Eucalyptus saligna
- Eucalyptus sideroxylon
- Eucalyptus stellulata
- Eucalyptus subcrenulata
- Eucalyptus tenuiramis
- Eucalyptus urnigera
- Eucalyptus viminalis
Tree to 30–40 m, 1.8 m dbh. Bark grey and fibrous at the base of the trunk; smooth and white, grey or yellow above, shedding in long ribbons. Branchlets red. Juvenile leaves ovate, dull greyish green. Adult leaves thick, shiny green, 11–17 × 1.5–2.3 cm, lanceolate, falcate, lateral veins indistinct, margins entire, apex acute or acuminate; petiole flattened, 1.5–2.2 cm long. Inflorescences solitary and axillary; umbellasters with seven flowers. Flower buds club-shaped and slightly curved; hypanthium 0.4–0.5 cm wide; stamens white or cream. Capsule pear-shaped or hemispherical or subglobular, 0.6–1 cm diameter; valves four to five, flush or included. Boland et al. 1984, Chippendale 1988. Distribution AUSTRALIA: New South Wales (Gibraltar Range, Blue Mts., Port Macquarie), Queensland (McPherson Range). Habitat Open forest on cliff tops and rock outcrops, between 750 and 1150 m asl. USDA Hardiness Zone 8. Conservation status Not evaluated.
The Blue Mountains Ash is poorly known in cultivation, the only significant specimen seen in research for this book being at Logan, where it is a thin tree about 7 m tall from a 1990 accession of seed collected in New South Wales by P.D. Hind (no. 5860). Its most conspicuous feature is its flaking bark, peeling to reveal greyish-greenish white patches that are quite attractive. When attempted at Lullingstone Castle it has been chlorotic (T. Hart Dyke, pers. comm. 2007). It would seem to be worth seeking out seed from the coldest provenances and experimenting further with this species.