Corymbia polycarpa

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Long-fruited bloodwood
Corymbia polycarpa.jpg
Long-fruited bloodwood,
Kimberley, WA, Australia
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Corymbia
Species:
C. polycarpa
Binomial name
Corymbia polycarpa
Synonyms [1]
  • Eucalyptus derbeyensis D.J.Carr & S.G.M.Carr
  • Eucalyptus erubescensD.J.Carr & S.G.M.Carr
  • Eucalyptus polycarpaF.Muell.
  • Eucalyptus pyrophora var. polycarpa(F.Muell.) Maiden nom. illeg.
  • Eucalyptus terminalis var. carnosaF.M.Bailey nom. inval., nom. prov.
  • Eucalyptus terminalisauct. non F.Muell.: Bentham, G. (1867)
  • Eucalyptus terminalisauct. non F.Muell.: Blakely, W.F. (1934)

Corymbia polycarpa, also known as long-fruited bloodwood or small-flowered bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to northern Australia. Indigenous Australians of different language groups have different names for the tree. The Nungali peoples know the tree as narrga or gunjid, the Mulluk-Mulluk know it as dawart, the Yangman know it as bodog, the Gurindji peoples as jadburru and the Wagiman as jagatjjin. [2] It is a medium-sized tree with rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white or cream-coloured flowers and barrel-shaped fruit.

Contents

Description

Corymbia polycarpa is a tree that typically grows to a height of 5–15 m (16–49 ft), sometimes 25 m (82 ft), and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, tessellated, flaky and brownish bark on the trunk and branches. Older bark is grey brown and newer bark is red-brown in colour. Young plants and coppice regrowth have elliptic to lance-shaped leaves that are up to 250 mm (9.8 in) long, 10–40 mm (0.39–1.57 in) wide and petiolate. Adult leaves are usually glossy green, paler on the lower surface, lance-shaped to curved, 78–208 mm (3.1–8.2 in) long and 10–38 mm (0.39–1.50 in) wide, tapering to a petiole 7–28 mm (0.28–1.10 in) long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of the branchlets on a branched peduncle 5–25 mm (0.20–0.98 in) long, each branch of the peduncle with seven or nine buds on pedicels 2–12 mm (0.079–0.472 in) long. Mature buds are oval to pear-shaped, 9–14 mm (0.35–0.55 in) long and 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) wide with a rounded to conical operculum. The buds have a whitish scaly surface due to the fragmenting rubber cuticle. Flowering occurs from April to August and the flowers are white or cream-coloured. The fruit is a woody, elongated barrel-shaped capsule 15–35 mm (0.59–1.38 in) long and 8–16 mm (0.31–0.63 in) wide on a pedicel 2–11 mm (0.079–0.433 in) long with the four valves enclosed in the fruit. The seeds are brown, ellipsoidal and 8–13 mm (0.31–0.51 in) long with a wing on the end. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

This species is distinguished from C. clarksoniana . C. ligans and C. novoguinensis in the basis of fruit shape. [4]

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described as Eucalyptus polycarpa by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1859 in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany . [7] [8] It was reclassified into the genus Corymbia in 1995 by Ken Hill and Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson in the journal Telopea . [5] [9]

Distribution

Corymbia polycarpa is found in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and northwestern New South Wales. The species is quite common between Broome and Derby in Western Australia through the Kimberley region of Western Australia extending east over the Top End of the Northern Territory including nearby islands and across the Gulf of Carpentaria and southern Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. It is found near watercourses, in depressions or on floodplains growing in sandy or silty alluvium and less commonly in cracking clays and in skeletal sandstone or lateritic soils. [4]

Uses

The timber from the tree is a very durable, with an above-ground life expectancy in excess of 40 years which drops to 25 years when used in-ground. The timber is vulnerable to termite attack and untreated sapwood is prone to damage by lyctine borers. It is a hardwood and difficult to work with hand tools. It is mostly used as round timber rather than sawn timber as a result of the numerous kino veins. It has been used as poles, railway sleepers, mining supports, for fencing and house stumps. Indigenous Australians used the gum medicinally [10] as an antiseptic liquid to treat cuts, sores, burns, ulcers and yaws. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Corymbia ficifolia</i> Species of plant

Corymbia ficifolia, commonly known as red flowering gum, is a species of small tree that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, egg-shaped to broadly lance-shape adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, bright red, pink or orange flowers and urn-shaped fruit. It has a restricted distribution in the wild but is one of the most commonly planted ornamental eucalypts.

<i>Corymbia abergiana</i> Species of plant

Corymbia abergiana, commonly known as range bloodwood or Rockingham Bay bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to Queensland. It has rough bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth bark on the smaller branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and barrel-shaped fruit with a very thick rim.

<i>Corymbia opaca</i> Species of plant

Corymbia opaca, also known as desert bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to northern Australia. It has rough bark on part or all of the trunk, lance-shaped leaves, club-shaped flower buds and urn-shaped fruit. Several parts of this plant are used by Aboriginal Australians in traditional medicine.

<i>Corymbia tessellaris</i> Species of plant

Corymbia tessellaris, commonly known as carbeen or Moreton Bay ash, is a species of tree that is endemic to north-eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the lower trunk abruptly changing to smooth, whitish bark above, narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white flowers and cylindrical or urn-shaped fruit

<i>Corymbia terminalis</i> Species of plant

Corymbia terminalis, also known as tjuta, joolta, bloodwood, desert bloodwood, plains bloodwood, northern bloodwood, western bloodwood or inland bloodwood, is a species of small to medium-sized tree, rarely a mallee that is endemic to Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on some or all of the trunk, sometimes also on the larger branches, smooth white to cream-coloured bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.

<i>Corymbia ptychocarpa</i> Species of plant

Corymbia ptychocarpa, commonly known as swamp bloodwood or spring bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to northwestern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and branches, broadly lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy yellow, pink or red flowers, and barrel-shaped, ribbed fruit.

Corymbia greeniana is a species of tree that is endemic to northern Australia. It has rough bark on some or all of the trunk and larger branches, smooth bark above, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and urn-shaped fruit with a distinct neck.

<i>Corymbia collina</i> Species of plant

Corymbia collina, commonly known as silver-leaved bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to Western Australia. It has thin patchy rough bark on some or all of the trunk, smooth white to pale grey bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and barrel-shaped fruit.

<i>Corymbia eremaea</i> Species of plant

Corymbia eremaea, commonly known as mallee bloodwood, hill bloodwood and Centre Range bloodwood, is a small, mallee-like tree that is endemic to central Australia. Indigenous Australians know the plant as muur-muurpa. It has rough, evenly tessellated bark, lance-shaped leaves, oval to pear-shaped flower buds arranged on a branching peduncle and urn-shaped fruit.

<i>Corymbia foelscheana</i> Species of plant

Corymbia foelscheana, commonly known as broad-leaved bloodwood, fan-leaved bloodwood or smooth-barked bloodwood, is a species of small tree that is endemic to northern Australia. It has thin, rough, tessellated bark on some or all of the trunk, smooth bark above, broadly egg-shaped to broadly lance- shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.

Corymbia hamersleyana is a species of small tree or mallee that is endemic to the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It has rough, flaky bark on part or all of the trunk, smooth cream-coloured bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flowers buds in groups of seven or nine, creamy white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.

<i>Corymbia clarksoniana</i> Species of plant

Corymbia clarksoniana, commonly known as Clarkson's bloodwood or grey bloodwood, is a species of medium-sized tree that is native to Queensland and northern New South Wales. It has rough, tessellated greyish to brownish bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped, glossy green leaves that are paler on the lower surface, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and urn-shaped to barrel-shaped fruit.

<i>Corymbia bloxsomei</i> Species of plant

Corymbia bloxsomei, commonly known as yellowjack, yellow jacket or yellow bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to inland, south-eastern Queensland. It has thick, rough scaly bark on the trunk and larger branches, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, nine or eleven, creamy white to pale yellow flowers and barrel-shaped, urn-shaped or spherical fruit.

Corymbia clandestina, commonly known as Drummond Range bloodwood, is a species of small tree that is endemic to Queensland. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and urn-shaped to barrel-shaped fruit.

<i>Corymbia kombolgiensis</i> Species of plant

Corymbia kombolgiensis, commonly known as scarp gum or paper-fruited bloodwood, is a species of small tree that is endemic to the Northern Territory. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough, tessellated bark near the base, linear to narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of seven, white flowers and cylindrical to barrel-shaped fruit.

Corymbia polysciada, commonly known as apple gum, paper-fruited bloodwood or bolomin, is a species of tree that is endemic to the Top End of the Northern Territory. It has rough, tessellated bark on some or all or the trunk, smooth bark above, egg-shaped to broadly lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and cup-shaped, cylindrical or barrel-shaped from on long pedicels.

Corymbia rhodops, commonly known as red-throated bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to Queensland. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and larger branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers with a red centre, and urn-shaped to barrel-shaped fruit.

<i>Corymbia umbonata</i> Species of plant

Corymbia umbonata, commonly known as rusty bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to the Top End of the Northern Territory. It has thin, rough bark on the trunk, often also the branches, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.

<i>Corymbia watsoniana</i> Species of plant

Corymbia watsoniana, commonly known as large-fruited yellowjacket, is a species of tree that is endemic to Queensland. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, egg-shaped to broadly lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and barrel-shaped or urn-shaped fruit.

Corymbia novoguinensis is a species of tree that is native to New Guinea, some Torres Strait Island and the Cape York Peninsula. It has rough bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and urn-shaped to barrel-shaped fruit.

References

  1. 1 2 "Corymbia polycarpa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Corymbia polycarpa (F.Muell.) K.D.Hill & L.A.S.Johnson". NT Flora. Government of the Northern Territory . Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  3. ↑ "Corymbia polycarpa". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. 1 2 3 "Corymbia polycarpa". Euclid. CSIRO . Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 Hill, Kenneth D.; Johnson, Lawrence A.S. (13 December 1995). "Systematic studies in the eucalypts. 7. A revision of the bloodwoods, genus Corymbia (Myrtaceae)". Telopea. 6 (2–3): 254–257. doi: 10.7751/telopea19953017 .
  6. ↑ Chippendale, George M. "Eucalyptus polycarpa". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Eucalyptus polycarpa". APNI. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  8. ↑ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1859). "Monograph of the Eucalypti of Tropical Australia". Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany. 3: 88–89. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "Corymbia polycarpa". APNI. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  10. ↑ "Corymbia polycarpa (F.Muell.) K.D.Hill & L.A.S.Johnson 1995". Some Magnetic Island Plants. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  11. ↑ Christine A. Jones. "The Medicinal Properties and Bush Foods of Eucalypts". Australian Plants Online. The Society for Growing Australian Plants. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
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