Eucalyptus risdonii
Credits
Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton
Recommended citation
'Eucalyptus risdonii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
Common Names
- Risdon Peppermint
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 oreades
- Eucalyptus ovata
- Eucalyptus parvula
- Eucalyptus pauciflora
- Eucalyptus praecox
- Eucalyptus radiata
- Eucalyptus regnans
- Eucalyptus remota
- Eucalyptus rodwayi
- Eucalyptus rubida
- Eucalyptus saligna
- Eucalyptus sideroxylon
- Eucalyptus stellulata
- Eucalyptus subcrenulata
- Eucalyptus tenuiramis
- Eucalyptus urnigera
- Eucalyptus viminalis
Shrub, mallee or tree to 8 m. Bark white, grey or yellowish, sometimes with greyish pink patches, smooth throughout. Branchlets glaucous, with characteristic scars encircling them. Juvenile leaves sessile, glaucous, initially free and elliptical, later connate and ovate. Adult leaves not often seen; green to glaucous, 6.5–10 × 1.5–2 cm, lanceolate, lateral veins indistinct, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole terete, 0.6–1.5 cm long. Inflorescences axillary and solitary; umbellasters with 7–15 flowers. Flower buds club-shaped, glaucous; hypanthium conical to pyriform, 0.2–0.3 cm wide; stamens white. Capsule hemispherical to subglobose, glaucous, 0.7–0.9 cm diameter; valves (three to) four, level or included. Brooker & Kleinig 1983, Chippendale 1988. Distribution AUSTRALIA: Tasmania (between Risdon and Cambridge). Habitat Grows in (almost) pure stands in open shrubland. USDA Hardiness Zone 9–10. Conservation status Not evaluated.
The Gum Group (2007) consider Eucalyptus risdonii to be one of the most beautiful trees of the genus, but bemoan its tenderness – although this can vary. In the United Kingdom it will occasionally survive for a few years, the current champion being a poor 6 m individual at Marwood Hill (measured by Owen Johnson in 2006 for TROBI), but it is more useful as a potted specimen. In mild climates, such as along the southern Oregon coast (an anomalous Zone 10), it will form a good tree (S. Hogan, pers. comm. 2007).