Eucalyptus botryoides Sm.

bangalay, southern mahogany

Australia: south coastal New South Wales and eastern Victoria.

In New Zealand predominantly cultivated for timber or amenity; occasionally naturalised from nearby specimens.

Mainly in northern coastal and lowland areas of New Zealand.

• Tree with rough, thick red-brown bark, slightly spongy beneath, held in elongated thick strips with furrows between, persistent on trunk and larger branches. Bark can be crushed to a fine powder.
• Leaves that are glossy, darker green on the upper side, paler beneath, strongly feather-veined.
• Flower buds that are stalkless or short-stalked, with conical cap, in clusters of 7–11.
• Fruit are woody capsules that are broad-topped, cylindrical to barrel-shaped, in clusters of 7–11.

Tree to 40 m tall.

Main trunk rough-barked, bark red-brown to grey-brown; smaller branches with smooth bark predominantly white, cream, or pale brown, ribbons absent. Hairs and adventitious roots absent. Young stems rounded or square in cross-section.

Mature leaves alternate, stalked, broadly lanceolate, feather-veined, tip pointed, base tapering to leaf stalk, glossy, dark green above and paler below, hairs and adventitious roots absent, 100–220 mm long, 20–70 mm wide. Vein reticulation dense, oil glands usually inconspicuous. Main side-veins at a relatively wide angle to the midrib, intramarginal veins present; leaf stalk 15–35 mm long.

Juvenile leaves stalked, opposite for several pairs, then alternate, ovate, 65–115(–150) mm long, 24–58(–85) mm wide, green above and paler below.

Flowers in clusters of 7–11, clusters in leaf axils, stalk of cluster broadly flattened, 7–15 mm long. Flower buds stalkless or with a short stalk; mature buds free, oblong to ovate (7–14 mm long, 4–6 mm wide), smooth, bud cap conical or hemispherical, shorter than base of bud; flowers (stamens) white; in mature open flowers, petals and sepals absent. Main flowering period: summer.

Capsules woody, stalkless or with a short stalk, cylindrical or barrel-shaped, 6–13 mm long, 5–9 mm wide, disc descending inside rim, valves three or four, valve tips ± level with capsule rim.

• Eucalyptus saligna, Sydney blue gum, has similar leaves, buds and capsules, although its buds tend to be smaller and slightly pear-shaped, and the capsules, also smaller than those of E. botryoides, have valve tips projecting above the rim of the capsule. The greatest difference is that E. saligna has smooth grey-green or bluish-green bark on the main trunk, with only a basal stocking of rough bark.
• Eucalyptus robusta, swamp mahogany or swamp messmate, has similar bark to E. botryoides, that is rough to the small branches. Its flower buds, in clusters of 9–15, are larger, to 24 × 8 mm, usually with a prominent stalk and long pointed cap, and the cylindrical woody capsules are also larger, to 18 × 11 mm, with valve tips usually joined across the mouth of the capsule.

South of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River, E. botryoides forms hybrid populations with Sydney blue gum, E. saligna.

Eucalyptus is a genus of nearly 800 species, most of which are endemic to Australia, with a few species extending to parts of Malesia and as far north as the Philippines.

• EUCLID
• Flora of Australia
• Flora of New Zealand Online
• GBIF
• iNaturalist NZ
• NZPCN
• PlantNET: New South Wales Flora Online
• Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
• VicFlora: Flora of Victoria
• Weeds of Australia: Biosecurity Queensland