Eucalyptus fraxinoides H.Deane & Maiden

white ash, white ash gum, white mountain ash

Australia: south-eastern New South Wales and far eastern Victoria.

In New Zealand cultivated in timber plantations, and occasionally in tree collections and for amenity; occasional naturalisation from nearby planted specimens.

Scattered records from throughout the North Island; less common in the South Island of New Zealand.

• A tree to 40 m tall, with rough, compacted, grey, grey-brown or black bark on the lower part of the trunk; on upper trunk and branches, bark is smooth, white, cream or pale grey, occasionally with horizontal black scars, often with ribbons of shedding bark, branchlets sometimes waxy grey-white. Young stems occasionally waxy grey-white.
• Adult leaves that are green, glossy, same colour above and below, alternate, stalked, blade lanceolate to sickle-shaped, to 180 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, vein reticulation usually absent.
• Juvenile leaves opposite, stalkless, elliptic and stem-clasping for first 5 or 6 leaf nodes, then stalked, alternate, becoming shaped like the adult leaves, to 150 mm long and 45 mm wide, green to blue-green.
• Flowers in stalked clusters of 7 to 11, in leaf axils, stalk of cluster angular to flattened, to 18 mm long, mature buds stalked, stalks to 6 mm long. Mature buds broadly club-shaped, to 6 mm long and 4 mm wide, usually green or red, sometimes slightly warty; bud cap conical to rounded to narrowly pointed, flowers white.
• Fruit are stalked woody capsules, stalk to 6 mm long, barrel-shaped, urn-shaped or truncated globular, to 11 mm long and 11 mm wide, reticulation sparse to absent, disc descending inside the capsule rim, valves 4 or 5, enclosed within the capsule.

Tree to 40 m tall.

Bark rough on basal 4–5 m of trunk, compacted, grey, grey-brown or black; smooth bark on upper trunk and branches white, cream or pale grey, occasionally with horizontal black scars, often with ribbons of shedding bark, branchlets sometimes waxy grey-white. Young stems square or rounded in cross-section, occasionally waxy grey-white.

Adult leaves alternate, stalked, blade lanceolate to sickle-shaped, 80–180 mm long, 10–35 mm wide, usually the two sides of the leaf base meeting at different points on the midrib (oblique) or tapering to the stalk, same colour above and below, glossy, green, side-veins at an acute angle to midrib, vein reticulation sparse to absent, intramarginal vein parallel to and well removed from margin, oil glands present, leaf stalk 8–16 mm long.

Juvenile leaves opposite, stalkless, elliptic and stem-clasping for first 5 or 6 leaf nodes, then stalked, alternate, ovate to lanceolate to sickle-shaped, 60–150 mm long, 15–45 mm wide, green to blue-green.

Flowers in stalked clusters of 7, 9 or 11, in leaf axils, stalk of cluster angular to flattened, 5–18 mm long. Mature buds free, broadly club-shaped, bud stalks 1–6 mm long, buds 5–6 mm long, 3–4 mm wide, usually green, or red, sometimes slightly warty; bud cap conical to rounded to narrowly pointed, flowers (stamens) white; in mature open flowers, petals and sepals absent. Main flowering period: summer.

Capsules woody, stalked, stalks 1–6 mm long, barrel-shaped, urn-shaped or truncated globular, 6–11 mm long, 6–11 mm wide, disc descending inside the capsule rim, valves 4 or 5, enclosed within the capsule.

Eucalyptus fraxinoides, E. delegatensis and E. pauciflora are blue-leaved ash eucalypts (referring to the colour of the juvenile leaves). E. fraxinoides and E. delegatensis both have rough bark on the lower part of the trunk, but the bark of E. fraxinoides is compact, whereas the bark of E. delegatensis is fibrous. E. pauciflora has smooth bark over the whole trunk and differs from all other ash eucalypts by the parallel side veins of the adult leaves. All three species can sometimes have some waxy grey-white (glaucous) parts, such as branchlets or young stems, buds, capsules or juvenile leaves, a feature unlikely to occur in other ash eucalypts.

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
• GBIF
• iNaturalist NZ
• PlantNET: New South Wales Flora Online
• Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
• VicFlora: Flora of Victoria