Eucalyptus eugenioides Sieber ex Spreng.

thin-leaved stringybark, white stringybark

Australia: Tablelands and coastal ranges in southern New South Wales extending north into south-eastern Queensland.

In New Zealand cultivated in timber plantations and a few tree collections; reports of naturalisations are rare.

Records mostly from the northern half of the North Island, with records sparse from the lower North Island and rare from the South Island of New Zealand.

• A tree to 25 m tall with rough, stringy, fissured, grey to grey-brown bark to the small branches.
• Adult leaves that are glossy, green, same colour above and below or colour slightly different, thin, alternate, stalked, blade lanceolate to sickle-shaped, to 160 mm long and 35 mm wide, usually the two sides of the leaf base meeting at different points on the midrib (oblique), side-veins at an acute angle to midrib.
• Young stems, leaf stalk, leaf margin and veins of juvenile leaves sparsely rough-surfaced (scabrid) with star-shaped hairs. Juvenile leaves always stalked, opposite for 5 to 10 pairs then alternate, usually ovate to lanceolate, to 100 mm long and 45 mm wide, green above, colour different above and below. Young growing tips, stems, leaf margins and midrib rough-surfaced (scabrid) because of presence of star-shaped hairs, for many nodes.
• Flowers in stalked clusters of 7 to 15, in leaf axils, stalk of cluster angular to distinctly flattened, to 17 mm long, buds short-stalked; mature buds ovate to spindle-shaped, to 8 mm long and 4 mm wide, green to yellow, bud cap conical to narrowly pointed, flowers white.
• Fruit that are short-stalked, woody capsules, capsule rounded to truncated-globular, to 8 mm long and 10 mm wide, disc variable, above or below the rim, valves 3 or 4, usually near rim level or projecting slightly above the rim.

Tree to 25 m tall.

Bark rough to small branches, longitudinally fissured, stringy, grey to grey-brown; ribbons absent. Hairs and adventitious roots absent. Young stems rounded in cross-section, rough-surfaced with dense star-shaped hairs.

Adult leaves alternate, stalked, blade lanceolate to sickle-shaped, (62–)70–160 mm long, 9–35 mm wide; usually the two sides of the leaf base meet at different points on the midrib (oblique) but may taper to the stalk, thin-textured, glossy, green, colour different above and below or the same colour, side-veins at an acute angle to midrib, vein reticulation sparse to moderate, intramarginal vein parallel to and well removed from margin, oil glands present; leaf stalk 6–20 mm long.

Juvenile leaves always stalked, opposite for 5 to 10 nodes then becoming alternate, ovate to lanceolate, 45–80(–100) mm long, 15–35(–45) mm wide, bases rounded at first, later tapering or meeting the midrib at different points, colour different above and below, glossy on upper surface, green; growing tips, stems, leaf margins and midrib rough-surfaced (scabrid) because of presence of star-shaped hairs, for many nodes. Early leaves with hairs, later leaves hairless.

Flowers in stalked clusters of 7 to 15, in leaf axils, stalk of cluster angular to flattened, 5–17 mm long, buds short-stalked, stalks 1–5 mm long. Mature buds free, club-shaped to spindle-shaped, 6–8 mm long, 3–4 mm wide, green to yellow, bud cap conical to narrowly pointed, flowers (stamens) white; in mature open flowers, petals and sepals absent. Main flowering period: winter to spring.

Capsules woody, stalked, stalks 1–4 mm long, capsule rounded to truncated-globular, 4–8 mm long, 5–10 mm wide, disc variable, raised above the rim to slightly descending inside the rim, valves 3 or 4, usually near rim level or projecting slightly above the rim.

• Stringybark eucalypts have many similar characteristics. Species in this key are E. globoidea, E. eugenioides and E. muelleriana. Other stringybarks in New Zealand include E. agglomerata (blue-leaved stringybark) and E. laevopinea (silvertop stringybark). E. obliqua and E. pilularis also have some characteristics in common with the stringybarks, as do some of the ash eucalypt species.
• Stringybarks have fibrous rough bark to the small branches (except E. laevopinea, that has smooth white bark on the small limbs). E. obliqua (an ash eucalypt) has mostly rough bark, but smooth bark on the upper branches. E. pilularis has rough bark on the lower trunk, but smooth white bark on the upper trunk and branches. These two species are included in comparisons because of similar characteristics to some stringybarks.
• All these stringybarks have green (or blue-green for E. agglomerata), more or less lanceolate adult leaves. There is variation in whether colour is the same above and below or not. E. obliqua and E. pilularis (not stringybarks) have leaves the same colour above and below. (E. agglomerata and E. laevopinea also have leaves the same colour above and below.) E. muelleriana has leaves that are distinctly different coloured above and below. The leaves of E. globoidea and E. eugenioides are mostly the same above and below but may be slightly different.
• The juvenile leaves of all these stringybarks have leaves that are a different colour above and below, some progressing to leaves the same colour each side as the plant develops. Stringybark juvenile leaves are rough-surfaced on stems, leaf stalks, leaf margins and midribs, because of star-shaped hairs present. E. obliqua has warty young stems from numerous raised oil glands. In contrast, E. pilularis has young stems 4-sided with flanged edges. The stringybark juvenile leaves have short stalks, whereas E. obliqua and E. pilularis juvenile leaves are stalkless.
• The number of flowers and capsules in a cluster varies. All have 7 or more; E. muelleriana (and E. laevopinea) have 7–11; E. eugenioides and E. pilularis have 7–15; E. globoidea, E. obliqua (and E. agglomerata) have 11–15. All these stringybarks and E. obliqua have the cluster stalk angular to flattened, some up to 20 mm long; E. pilularis has an angular cluster stalk.
• All have rounded to conical bud caps, but the cap of E. pilularis (and E. agglomerata) may be narrowly pointed.
• The stringybarks have characteristically crowded clusters of seed capsules because of the number of buds. In most species, each capsule has a short stalk; but in E. globoidea, with stalkless or very short-stalked capsules, they are crowded (and in E. agglomerata the capsules are very crowded with sides flattened). The stringybark species have small, round or cup-shaped to truncated-globular capsules. They are differentiated on capsule size and length of capsule stalk, together with a combination of other characters. Eucalyptus obliqua has cup-shaped to barrel-shaped capsules, and E. pilularis capsules are round to truncated-globular.

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