Corymbia ficifolia

Description

The tree typically grows to a height of 2 to 10 metres (7 to 33 ft) but can reach up to 15 m (49 ft) with a width of 5 to 20 m (16 to 66 ft). The tree can have a straggly habit. The bark of the tree is rough, short-fibred, longitudinally furrowed and a brown grey colour. The leaves are thick, dull green and with a prominant mid-rib. The flowers are brilliant red colour and the gum nuts are large, woody and urn-shaped.

Distribution

It is native to a very small area of south coastal Western Australia (measured in just tens of kilometres) to the east of Walpole (430 km Southeast of Perth), but is not considered under threat in the wild. Also found around Albany and in the Stirling Range. It grows well in sandy or loamy soils even those containing gravel and is often found on flats and on hillslopes.

Cultivation and uses

In nature Corymbia ficifolia prefers infertile, sandy soils but it is readily adaptable to most temperate locations, provided it is not exposed to severe frost or sustained tropical damp. It is an ideal street tree as it is hardy, moderately fast growing, and rarely grows large enough to require pruning. The largest known single-stemmed tree of this species in the world (216.5 cm diameter) is located on Princes Street in Hamilton, New Zealand. Because of its big and lovely colourful flowers, genetic improvement for cold resistance in Dublin area in Ireland is being carrying out by collecting seeds from Western and Southern Australia in the coldest parts of Australia where it grows. In Ireland most of the plants were killed by severe frosts but the surviving shoots have been kept by tissue culture.

It is difficult to graft but grows well from seed, typically taking about 7 years before it flowers for the first time and 15–20 years to reach something approaching its full size of anything between 2–8 m. For the home gardener, buying a "red flowering gum" from a nursery is something of a gamble: it may or may not be a ficifolia, and the flower colour does not breed true - there is no way to find out what colour the flowers will be short of planting a seedling and waiting for it to reach maturity.

Corymbia similarities

Corymbia ficifolia is a close relative of the West Australian Marri or Port Gregory gum (Corymbia calophylla). The Marri is widespread in southern WA. Although in the wild it can grow much larger than Corymbia ficifolia (up to 50 m tall), under cultivation this size is rare.

The two species can be very difficult to tell apart. There is no single reliable method: it is generally necessary to consider a range of factors, to be aware that they crossbreed readily, and to recall that species is an artificial human concept that nature does not always obey.

Corymbia calophylla tends to have:

Corymbia ficifolia:

Most individual examples are clearly one species or the other, but even experts cannot always tell the difference, particularly as many cultivated trees are crossbreeds.

Flowering

The common name, "red flowering gum" is often used, but generally not to indicate Corymbia ficifolia in particular as opposed to it and other similar looking trees. The name is also something of a misnomer; all gums flower, many are red, Corymbia ficifolia is not really a "gum" but a bloodwood, and its flowers can be any shade between pale cream, through pink, to red, orange or deep crimson.

Both species are unusual in that they mainly grow only in spring, which means that the flower heads (which blossom in late summer) are outside the bulk of the foliage and very visible. Both species share the habit of flowering heavily only every second year; typically parts of a given tree will flower one year and other parts the next, but this varies greatly: in typical corymbia fashion, each individual tree seems to have its own particular habits.

Along with Nuytsia floribunda blossoms of the tree regularly correlate with summer solstice and Christmas season in trees growing in metropolitan Perth.