Eucalyptus camphora R.T. Baker

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Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Eucalyptus camphora' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/eucalyptus/eucalyptus-camphora/). Accessed 2024-03-27.

Common Names

  • Broad-leaved Sallee
  • Mountain Swamp Gum

Glossary

strobilus
Cone. Used here to indicate male pollen-producing structure in conifers which may or may not be cone-shaped.
flush
Coordinated growth of leaves or flowers. Such new growth is often a different colour to mature foliage.
key
(of fruit) Vernacular English term for winged samaras (as in e.g. Acer Fraxinus Ulmus)
sinus
Recess between two lobes or teeth on leaf margin.
subspecies
(subsp.) Taxonomic rank for a group of organisms showing the principal characters of a species but with significant definable morphological differentiation. A subspecies occurs in populations that can occupy a distinct geographical range or habitat.

References

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Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Eucalyptus camphora' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/eucalyptus/eucalyptus-camphora/). Accessed 2024-03-27.

Tree to 22 m. Bark grey or greyish brown to almost black and smooth throughout. Branchlets reddish orange or yellow. Juvenile leaves sessile, ovate, emarginate, green. Adult leaves shiny green, 6–13 × 3.8–5 cm, ovate to broadly lanceolate, lateral veins distinct, margins entire, apex rounded or sometimes emarginate; petiole terete, 2.5–4 cm long. Inflorescences axillary and solitary; umbellasters with seven flowers. Flower buds spindle-shaped; hypanthium 0.3–0.5 cm wide; stamens white or cream. Capsule conical or cup-shaped, 0.4–0.6 cm diameter; valves three to four, level or slightly exserted. Chippendale 1988. Distribution AUSTRALIA: New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria. Habitat Montane forest, particularly in marshland. USDA Hardiness Zone 8. Conservation status Not evaluated. Illustration NT336. Cross-references B135, S230.

A key to the three subspecies of Eucalyptus camphora, modified from Johnson & Hill (1990b), is provided below.

1a.Petioles > 2 cm long2
1b.Petioles < 2 cm long; Australia (New South Wales: Central Tablelands)subsp. camphora
2a.Largest adult leaves < 2.5 cm wide; Australia (northeastern New South Wales: Northern Tablelands; southeastern Queensland: Racecourse Creek)subsp. relicta L.A.S. Johnson & K.D. Hill
2b.Largest adult leaves > 2.5 cm wide; Australia (southeastern New South Wales, northeastern Victoria)subsp. humeana L.A.S. Johnson & K.D. Hill

Eucalyptus camphora could be seen as a high-altitude form of E. ovata, which is less hardy. Both grow in wet ground in their native habitat. Eucalyptus camphora will also tolerate boggy and even flooded conditions in cultivation in southern England, and does not rock in the ground. It is, however, somewhat less hardy when grown in wet conditions than on drier sites (which it also tolerates well). Bean (1981a) recorded that it had been ‘recently introduced’ by R.C. Barnard, and predicted that it should be very hardy. This seems to be the case, although provenance is, as always, important. Trees from the population near Wee Jasper, New South Wales are particularly tough, and have withstood –16.5 ºC in Oregon and resprouted from much lower temperatures in Cincinnati (S. Hogan, pers. comm. 2007).

Eucalyptus camphora is an attractive species, with rounded lime-green leaves when young, often with a slight sinus that gives them a camel’s-foot appearance. Adult leaves are more elongated, and a rich dark green (although material from higher altitudes will often show some glaucescence). The leaves flush reddish, and also turn a good red as they die. It is a rapid grower, some plants in Oxfordshire being almost 9 m after only six years (G. Cooper, pers. comm. 2007), and others in Oregon reaching 13 m in 10 years (S. Hogan, pers. comm. 2007). Despite all these promising signs, however, no older trees are known in the British Isles at present, the current TROBI-recognised champion being 9 m in 2004 at Fox Rosehill Garden, Cornwall. Larger specimens (up to 18 m in Devon) have been recorded in the past.