Flora of North America species comparison

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Eucalyptus polyanthemos

Eucalyptus

red box, silver dollar gum

eucalypt, eucalyptus, gum, gum tree
Habit Trees, to 25 m; trunk gray or tan, smooth or rough; bark rough, fibrous, and persistent, or smooth and shed in flakes or irregular strips. Trees or shrubs, usually erect, glabrous or pubescent, hairs simple; bark shedding, smooth, or occasionally persistent near base of trunk, or rough throughout.
Leaves

petiole 1–2.5 cm;

blade grayish green, silver, or bluish green, round, elliptic, or ovate, 5–10 × 1.5–5 cm, surfaces occasionally glaucous.

heterophyllous, juvenile usually opposite, horizontal, sessile, blade base ± cordate, surfaces glaucous, adult usually alternate, vertical, petiolate, blade surfaces often same color, glandular;

blade venation usually pinnate, faint, lateral veins ascending, nearly straight, several.
Inflorescences

5–7-flowered, terminal or axillary, umbels in panicles.

1–19-flowered, flowers solitary in leaf axils, or in umbels or panicles of umbels and axillary or terminal.
Peduncles

1–4 cm.

Flowers

hypanthium ovoid to obconic, ca. 4 mm, length ca. 2 times calyptra;

calyptra conic to hemispheric;

stamens white;

anthers rigid on filaments, adnate, absent on outer filaments.

4- or 5-merous, sessile or pedicellate;

hypanthium hemispheric, cylindrical, urn-shaped, pyriform, ovoid, obconic, or campanulate;

perianth parts fused in a calyptra (called an operculum or bud cap) that is shed at anthesis;

stamens often 100+, often showy, usually fertile;

ovary 3–6-locular;

ovules 10–100+, sterile ones often present.
Fruits

capsules, brown to gray, hemispheric, obconic, ovoid, subpyriform, globose, cylindric, or urn-shaped, glaucous or not, thick-walled, woody, usually smooth, opening apically;

valves exserted beyond apex or included (enclosed) below fruit apex.
Capsules

ovoid or subpyriform, 5–6 mm, to 6 mm wide, glaucous;

valves 3 or 4, included.

Seeds

several–100, cuboid, usually 1–3 mm, wind dispersed.
x

= 11.

Eucalyptus polyanthemos

Eucalyptus
Phenology Flowering winter–spring.
Habitat Disturbed coastal urban areas.
Elevation 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; se Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
Australia [Introduced in North America; introduced also nearly worldwide]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eucalyptus polyanthemos is known from the San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Outer South Coast Ranges, South Coast, Santa Catalina Islands, and Western Transverse Ranges.

Juvenile, adult, and transitional leaves are occasionally found in crowns of mature naturalized trees.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species 700+ (15 in the flora).

Species of Eucalyptus are some of the world’s largest flowering plants, some over 100 m; various species are most commonly planted as forestry and plantation trees for oil, timber, fuel, tannins, and paper pulp. Many are cultivated ornamentally in warm climates, with several naturalized in Arizona, California, and Florida, and, perhaps, other southern states.

Species of Eucalyptus in North America, where correlations with natural habitat do not exist, are often difficult to identify. Many species (over 200 in California alone) have been introduced into cultivation and more will surely be added.

Eucalyptus pulverulenta Sims has been reported to be naturalized in California but no supporting evidence has been found. Some putative hybrids have also been reported as naturalized.

In his treatment of eucalypts, M. I. H. Brooker (2000) included Angophora Cavanilles and Corymbia K. D. Hill & L. A. S. Johnson as subgenera of Eucalyptus, whereas other concurrent and more recent work has supported the status of Angophora and Corymbia as separate genera (P. Y. Ladiges et al. 1995; F. Udovicic and Ladiges 2000; D. A. Steane et al. 2002). Although the validity of the latter work is recognized herein, for the purpose of simplicity in treating a small group of naturalized species, Eucalyptus in the broad sense of Brooker is here adopted.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Inflorescences umbels in panicles.
→ 2
2. Leaves lemon-scented; trunk smooth; bark shedding in irregular pieces.
E. citriodora
2. Leaves medicinal or spicy scented (not lemon-scented); trunk smooth or rough; bark fissured, fibrous, or shedding in flakes or irregular strips.
→ 3
3. Capsules urn-shaped or truncate-globose, 8+ mm wide; juvenile leaves (common in mature crown) peltate, often reddish hirsute; Florida.
E. torelliana
3. Capsules hemispheric, ovoid, or subpyriform, to 6 mm wide; leaves not peltate, not reddish hirsute; Arizona, California.
→ 4
4. Leaf blades narrowly lanceolate, 8–17 × 0.8–2.5 cm.
E. coolabah
4. Leaf blades round, elliptic, or ovate, 5–10 × 1.5–5 cm.
E. polyanthemos
1. Inflorescences umbels not in panicles or flowers solitary.
→ 5
5. Flowers solitary in leaf axils, sessile or subsessile; capsules glaucous.
E. globulus
5. Flowers 3–19 in umbels, pedicellate; capsules glaucous or not.
→ 6
6. Trunk rough, brown, reddish brown, dark brown, or black; bark deeply furrowed, persisting on trunks and limbs.
→ 7
7. Bark soft, spongy, fibrous; trunk reddish brown; leaves light green abaxially; anthers present on all stamens; peduncles flattened; fruit valves fused after dehiscence.
E. robusta
7. Bark hard; trunk dark brown or ± black; leaves same color on both surfaces; anthers absent on outer stamens; peduncles subterete; fruit valves free.
E. sideroxylon
6. Trunk smooth, gray, bluish gray, white, whitish gray, orange, tan, or mottled; bark shedding, occasionally rough near base (to ca. 1.5 m).
→ 8
8. Capsules connate, forming globose clusters.
E. conferruminata
8. Capsules not connate.
→ 9
9. Leaves lighter in color abaxially.
→ 10
10. Trunk mottled gray, orange, or tan; capsules ribbed; valves included; hypanthium length 3–4 times calyptra.
E. cladocalyx
10. Trunk white; capsules smooth (not ribbed); valves exserted, incurved; hypanthium only slightly longer than calyptra.
E. grandis
9. Leaves same color on both surfaces.
→ 11
11. Inflorescences usually 3-flowered; juvenile leaves opposite, sessile.
E. viminalis
11. Inflorescences 7- or 9+-flowered; juvenile leaves alternate, petiolate.
→ 12
12. Leaf blades linear, 0.1–0.5 cm wide; fruit valves ± level with apex or included.
E. pulchella
12. Leaf blades lanceolate, 1–3 cm wide; fruit valves exserted.
→ 13
13. Leaves usually green to bluish green, sometimes grayish green; trunk powdery to touch.
E. mannifera
13. Leaves green; trunk not powdery to touch.
→ 14
14. Calyptrae of flowers mostly hemispheric, often rostrate, rarely bluntly conic; hypanthium length ± equaling calyptra.
E. camaldulensis
14. Calyptrae of flowers conic-acuminate or horn-shaped; hypanthium length 2–3 times shorter than calyptra.
E. tereticornis
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10. Authors: Matt Ritter, Leslie R. Landrum.
Parent taxa Myrtaceae > Eucalyptus Myrtaceae
Sibling taxa
E. camaldulensis, E. citriodora, E. cladocalyx, E. conferruminata, E. coolabah, E. globulus, E. grandis, E. mannifera, E. pulchella, E. robusta, E. sideroxylon, E. tereticornis, E. torelliana, E. viminalis
Subordinate taxa
E. camaldulensis, E. citriodora, E. cladocalyx, E. conferruminata, E. coolabah, E. globulus, E. grandis, E. mannifera, E. polyanthemos, E. pulchella, E. robusta, E. sideroxylon, E. tereticornis, E. torelliana, E. viminalis
Name authority Schauer in W. G. Walpers: Repert. Bot. Syst. 2: 924. (1843) L’Heritier: Sert. Angl., 18. (1789): plate 20, (1792)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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