Tree 24

Eucalyptus cinerea

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Quick Facts

Genus: Eucalyptus (‘hard cap’ in reference to operculum that protects young buds).

Species: cinerea (means ash coloured)

Common Names: Argyle Apple or Mealy Stringybark

Mature Size: 10-25 metres.

Height: 9.6 metres
Width: 7.1 metres
Diameter at Breast Height (DBH): 55cm

Age of Tree: Mature, this tree has reached their expected size in this position. The loss of root space to the north due to the car park for train station will limit its ultimate life expectancy.

Place of Origin: From a large area in and around Beechworth in Victoria; in inland NSW to north of Bathurst in open dry sclerophyll forest.

Plant Habit: Extremely variable in form, tall and upright in tight spacing and can be short and twisted when found under taller trees.

Growth Habit: Slow – medium depending on conditions.

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Story

Also known as ‘Silver dollar tree’ due to its round leaves when young. The round silver leaves are prized in floral arrangements.

First nations people used the bark for shelters, making ropes, string etc., and the wood for making tools.

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Horticultural Information

Preferred Conditions: Soil Moisture better with simmer moisture

Soil Type: tolerates a wide range of soil types, from very poor compacted clay to more fertile loam.

Tolerances: drought tolerant and can thrive in hard clay soils.

Useful Life Expectancy (ULE): Medium, prone to over grazing in Melbourne by possums and Leaf Skeletoniser insects.

Significance: A modest sized tree, suitable for modest sized gardens, with attractive and contrasting features.

Flowering Characteristics: In 3’s in the leaf axils, waxy white in colour.

Features: Bark is brown and stringy to small branches. Foliage is glaucous (silver blue in colour), with a waxy coating. Juvenile leaves are rounded in shape, sessile on stems and found opposite on stems. Mature leaves are more lanceolate in shape of the same colouring, mostly adjacent on stems.

Flowers are in 3’s, in leaf axils May-November, of the same colouring as leaves. Making them blend in to the foliage. Once the hard conical cap (operculum) has been shed, the flowers are white. Fruit are bell shaped and retain waxy colouring.

Points of Interest: The striking contrast of the silver blue foliage and the brown stringybark make it a strong feature in a confined space. This type of tree can remain an understory tree, when grow in a confined situation; it is very suited to a small garden setting.

Additional Notes

This type of tree is commonly seen as a street tree in Canberra, where it does well. The poor soils found in nature strips often results in modest sized trees of reasonable form.

These trees can also be pruned into a hedge.

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