Eucalyptus grandis seed
LATIN NAME: Eucalyptus grandis
COMMON NAME: Flooded Gum, Rose Gum, Grand Eucalyptus
The flooded gum is one of the tallest trees of the world, and it rises like a smooth grey column from the Australian forest. It grows as a very tall evergreen tree, reaching fifty metres or more, with the largest specimens exceeding eighty metres, with a straight, clean trunk, smooth bark that is grey to grey-brown, rough and fibrous only at the base, and in youth, broad, oval leaves that give way to long, slender, sickle-shaped adult leaves. In winter it bears clusters of small, white flowers, and the whole tree has the fresh, aromatic scent of the eucalypts. It is one of the great timber trees of Australia.
The flooded gum belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and it is native to the coastal and sub-coastal forests of eastern Australia, from New South Wales north to Queensland, where it grows mainly on flat land and lower slopes near water, which is how it got its name.
Positive & Encouraging Seed Germination Guide
Growing a flooded gum from seed is easy and very rewarding. The seeds sit inside the small, woody capsules, which release them when ripe, and they germinate readily in warm, light conditions. Sow them in pots of free-draining compost, scatter them on the surface without covering, and keep them warm, bright and lightly moist. Germination usually begins within one to three weeks. Pot the seedlings on as they grow, giving them full sun and good drainage, and plant them out in a sunny, sheltered, well-drained spot once they are strong. A seed-raised flooded gum will grow astonishingly fast into a tall, elegant tree.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The flooded gum has a distinguished and practical record in forestry and plant research. As one of the most important plantation eucalypts in the world, it has been studied extensively in forestry for its remarkably fast growth, its wood quality and its management, and it is grown in plantations across the tropics and subtropics for timber, pulp and paper. The tree has also been studied in ecology for its role in the coastal forests of Australia, and the eucalypts are of broad interest in research on fast-growing trees, water use and forest productivity. In recent decades, the flooded gum has also been a subject in biotechnology and breeding research, where fast-growing eucalypts are of interest for improving plantation yields. For a tree of such speed and such commercial importance, the flooded gum has an exceptionally rich record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Ecologically, the flooded gum is a keystone of the Australian forest. Its flowers feed bees, birds and other wildlife, its hollows give shelter and nesting sites, and it grows as part of the rich coastal forest of eastern Australia, alongside a great range of animals.
Its economic value is enormous. It is one of the most important plantation eucalypts in the world, grown across the tropics and subtropics for timber, pulp and paper, and its fast growth makes it one of the most productive trees under cultivation. For a grower, the flooded gum is a valuable and fast-growing tree, and for a gardener in a warm climate it brings a tall, elegant, aromatic presence.
Eucalyptus grandis, commonly known as the Rose gum or Flooded gum, is native to the east coast of Australia where it occurs naturally as a fast-growing tall tree of coastal and subcoastal wet forests sporadically distributed from near Newcastle in New South Wales north to south eastern Queensland with an outlying occurrence on the tablelands of northern Queensland. It is one of the premier forest species in Queensland and New South Wales growing to 55 m in height with a mature trunk ranging from 1 to almost 2 metres in diameter. Its form is excellent with tall, straight, clean holes up to two-thirds of the total height.
The bark is thin and deciduous, shedding in strips to expose a smooth surface marked with flowing patterns of white, slaty gray, terra cotta, or light green. Occasionally a "stocking" of light-gray, platelike or fissured bark persists over the basal 1 to 2 m of the trunk. Branchlets can be either glaucous (coated in a bluish bloom) or non-glaucous.
Juvenile foliage is ovate, 4 to 14 cm in length and from 2 to 8.5 cm wide, darker green above. Adult leaves are spear-shaped, 8 to 18 cm in length and from 1.5 to 4 cm wide, glossy, darker green above and paler below. The flowers are white and appear in late summer and autumn.