''Eucalyptus bridgesiana'', commonly known as apple box, apple, apple gum or but-but, is a medium to large sized

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

. It has rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth grey bark above, glossy green, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and hemispherical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus bridgesiana'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a respons ...

. It has rough, fibrous, mottled grey and white, sometimes

tessellated A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety of g ...

bark on the trunk and larger branches, with rough, grey, fibrous bark on its trunk and larger branches. Thinner branches have smooth grey bark with whitish patches, shed in short ribbons. Young plants and

coppice Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

regrowth have

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, egg-shaped, heart-shaped or almost round leaves arranged in opposite pairs, long, wide, with wavy edges and covered with a powdery white bloom. The adult leaves are lance-shaped, the same glossy green on both sides, long and wide on a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven on a peduncle up to long, the individual buds on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long. Mature buds are normally oval, long and wide with a conical to beaked operculum. Flowering occurs from February to March and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, hemispherical capsule, long and wide with the three valves extending above the rim.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus bridgesiana'' was first formally described in 1898 by

Richard Thomas Baker Richard Thomas Baker (1 December 1854 – 14 July 1941) was an Australian economic Botany, botanist, museum curator and educator. Early life Baker was born in Woolwich, England, son of Richard Thomas Baker, a blacksmith, and his wife Sarah, née ...

and the description was published in ''

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succ ...

''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''bridgesiana'') honours

Frederick Bridges Frederick Bridges (1840–1904) was an Australian educationalist and former chief inspector of schools. Early life Born in Windsor, New South Wales on 2 February 1840, Bridges was brought to Sydney as an infant. He was the son of a Scottish-bor ...

(1840-1904) for his "promoting the opplication of economic science to our indigenous vegetable products".

Distribution and habitat

Apple box grows in open woodland and forest and is widespread from near

Stanthorpe Stanthorpe is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Stanthorpe had a population of 5,286 people. The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt. Geography Stant ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and south through the slopes and ranges of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and eastern

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The Sydney suburb of

Tallawong, New South Wales Tallawong is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tallawong is in north-west Greater Sydney Area in the local government area of Blacktown. It is named after the metro station located within its boundaries, which opened ...

is named after the

Dharug The Dharug or Darug people, are a nation of Aboriginal Australian clans, who share ties of kinship, country and culture. In pre-colonial times, they lived as hunters in the region of current day Sydney. The Darug speak one of two dialects o ...

word for apple box.

Uses

The wood of apple box is softer than that of other

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

s, and is considered poor for firewood or building timber. However, the honey produced by bees feeding on the small white flowers of the tree is of high quality.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4529674 bridgesiana Flora of New South Wales Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of Queensland Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1898 Trees of Australia Taxa named by Richard Thomas Baker