Dwyer's red gum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dwyer's red gum |
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| Eucalyptus dwyeri near Condobolin | |
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Eucalyptus
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| Species: |
dwyeri
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Dwyer's red gum (also called Dwyer's mallee gum) is a special kind of tree. It can also grow as a mallee, which is a shrubby plant with many stems from the ground. This plant is found only in eastern Australia. It has smooth bark that is white or cream-coloured. Its leaves are shaped like a spear or are slightly curved. The flowers grow in groups of seven, and the fruit looks like a cone, bell, or half-sphere.
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What Dwyer's Red Gum Looks Like
Dwyer's red gum usually grows as a tree, reaching about 10 to 15 metres (33 to 49 feet) tall. Sometimes, it grows as a mallee, which is a smaller, bushier form, up to 6 metres (20 feet) tall. This plant has a special woody swelling at its base called a lignotuber. This helps it regrow after fires.
Bark and Leaves
The bark of Dwyer's red gum is smooth. It can be white, cream, or greyish-brown. The bark peels off in flat pieces or flakes. Young plants and new shoots have lance-shaped leaves. These leaves are about 5 to 15 centimetres (2 to 6 inches) long and 1 to 2.5 centimetres (0.4 to 1 inch) wide.
Adult leaves are also lance-shaped or slightly curved. They are 7 to 15 centimetres (2.8 to 5.9 inches) long and 1 to 2.7 centimetres (0.4 to 1.1 inches) wide. Each leaf has a stalk called a petiole, which is 1 to 2.2 centimetres (0.4 to 0.9 inches) long.
Flowers and Fruit
The flower buds grow in groups of seven. They are found where the leaves meet the stem, called the axil. These groups of buds grow on a short stalk called a peduncle, which is 3 to 10 millimetres (0.1 to 0.4 inches) long. Some buds sit directly on the stalk, while others have tiny stalks up to 5 millimetres (0.2 inches) long.
Mature buds are oval or diamond-shaped. They are 6 to 13 millimetres (0.2 to 0.5 inches) long and 3 to 6 millimetres (0.1 to 0.2 inches) wide. Each bud has a cone-shaped cap called an operculum. This cap protects the flower parts inside.
Dwyer's red gum flowers from September to December. Its flowers are white. After flowering, it produces a woody fruit. This fruit is a capsule that can be conical, bell-shaped, or hemispherical. It is 3 to 9 millimetres (0.1 to 0.4 inches) long and 5 to 7 millimetres (0.2 to 0.3 inches) wide. The parts that open to release seeds are at the same level as the rim or stick out a little.
How Dwyer's Red Gum Got Its Name
Eucalyptus dwyeri was first described in 1925. Two botanists, Joseph Maiden and William Blakely, gave it its scientific name. They found a sample of the tree near Gungal, New South Wales.
The plant's specific name, dwyeri, honours a person named James Wilfred Dwyer. He was a Roman Catholic Bishop in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Bishop Dwyer collected this plant many times when he was a priest in Temora. He was known for being a very careful observer of native plants for many years.
Where Dwyer's Red Gum Lives
Dwyer's red gum grows in mallee shrubland. It prefers shallow soils on ridges. You can find it west of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales and southern Queensland, Australia.
There have been some reports of this tree in northern Victoria. However, experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria believe those plants are actually a different species called E. blakelyi.
