My Aussie Bush

JodieDownUnder

At the moment all the grey gums on our property are shedding bark. Large strips of bark cover the ground and expose a gorgeous orange, ochre’ golden trunk. I’m hard pressed to convince anyone that they are in fact grey gums or Eucalyptus punctata. They shed once a year, usually Jan/Feb and if there’s been a lot of rain, they tend to be more orange. That’s why this year, I’m noticing them more. They look like candles in the forest. Incidentally, they are also a food source for koalas. The bark makes great weed suppressant, kindling and home for countless insects and creatures, before it breaks down and turns back into soil. I’m not aware of any medicinal uses for this tree but in forestry it is widely used as a construction timber (hardwood)

JennyT Upstate South Carolina

@jodienancarrow The forest is absolutely breathtaking.

LaurieLovesLearning

It is beautiful. This is very unique. I'd never heard of such a thing before.

I love your second picture.

Thanks for sharing!

COWLOVINGIRL

Wow! I've never seen this before!

frogvalley

I can't believe I can't find much information on Eucalyptus punctata.

Do rainbow gums grow there? I saw one in a short video that was only 12 years old and 30 or more feet tall. Amazing! And so beautiful.

Torey

@jodienancarrow That's pretty cool. But its so weird to see "naked" trees. :) We have a tree species here in BC that sheds its bark. Arbutus. Arbutus menziesii. It has a dark orange interior and has broad evergreen leaves. But its not very common as it likes to be very close to salt water and isn't very winter hardy so it only grows in our south coast region and down the Pacific Northwest along the coasts of Washington and Oregon.

https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/ShowDBImage/gallery.aspx?page=0&specrep=0&latinName=Arbutus%20menziesii

JodieDownUnder

@frogvalley apparently there are over 700 species of eucalyptus and only 4 don’t occur in Australia, rainbow gum Eucalyptus deglupta is one of them. More common in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

@torey those photos of Arbutus menziesii are great, even the flowers and fruit are interesting.

karenjanicki

Very beautiful!