''Corymbia torelliana'', commonly known as cadaghi or cadaga, is a species of tree that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to north Queensland. It has smooth, greenish grey to white bark, rough at the base of older trees, egg-shaped, heart-shaped or lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white flowers and urn-shaped or shortened spherical fruit.

Description

''Corymbia torelliana'' 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 smooth greenish grey to white bark, although older specimens often have rough, tessellated, greyish bark on the lower trunk. 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 heart-shaped to egg-shaped or elliptical leaves that are glossy green on the upper surface, paler below, long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, paler on the lower surface, egg-shaped to heart-shaped or lance-shaped, 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. There are many small oil dots visible to the naked eye. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets on a branched peduncle long, each branch of the peduncle with three or seven buds that are

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 ...

or on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

up to long. Mature buds are oval, long and wide with a rounded, conical or slightly beaked operculum. Flowering occurs from August to November and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody urn-shaped or shortened spherical capsule long and wide with the valves enclosed in the fruit.

Taxonomy and naming

Cadaghi was first formally described in 1877 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

who gave it the name ''Eucalyptus torelliana'' and published the description in his book ''

Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae ''Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'' is a series of papers written by the Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in which he published many of his approximately 2000 descriptions of new taxa of Australian plants. Including the p ...

''. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

specimens were collected near Trinity Bay by Eugene Fitzalan. In 1995, Ken Hill and Lawrie Johnson changed the name to ''Corymbia torelliana'', publishing the change in the journal '' Telopea''. 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 ...

(''torelliana'') honours "Count

Luigi Torelli Luigi Torelli (9 February 1810 – 14 November 1887) was born in Villa di Tirano, in the Valtellina of Lombardy, at the time part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Being a patriot, he took part in the Five Days of Milan, most noted in drivin ...

", who proposed using water-loving eucalypts to reduce the incidence of malaria by drying out marshes.

Distribution and habitat

''Corymbia torelliana'' grows in wet sclerophyll forest, on rainforest margins and as an emergent in rainforest. Its natural range is from

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...

to Ingham and inland as far as the

Windsor Tablelands The Windsor Tablelands are a series of plateaus located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Windsor Tableland and surrounding rainforest area are contained as part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, sitting between the Daintree Rainforest a ...

. It has been used as a fast-growing garden and landscaping tree and has established itself beyond its natural distribution.

Ecology

Cadaghi has become naturalised beyond its native range in south-eastern and central Queensland. It is regarded as a weed in south-eastern Queensland where it grows on roadsides, waterways, disturbed sites and waste areas. Its dense canopy often inhibits the growth of understorey species, affecting the composition of native forests in subtropical areas. The sticky resin from the fruiting capsules of this species is collected by the native stingless bee ''

Tetragonula carbonaria ''Tetragonula carbonaria'' (previously known as ''Trigona carbonaria'') is a stingless bee, endemism, endemic to the north-east coast of Australia. Its common name is sugarbag bee. They are also occasionally referred to as bush bees. The bee is k ...

'', clogging the honeycombs and sometimes sealing the hive entrance and killing the bees inside.

Conservation status

This eucalypt is classified as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

Use in horticulture

Cadaghi is a fast growing tree that has been used as a street and garden tree further south than its natural range, including in inland towns such as

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire Local government in Australia, local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Hi ...

Chinchilla Chinchilla refers to either of two species ('' Chinchilla chinchilla'' and '' Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "her ...

and

Cunnamulla Cunnamulla () is a town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Charleville, Queensland, Charleville, and approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane. In the 2021 Au ...

. Its dense canopy of large leaves can provide shade in these places. A sooty fungus that often grows on the tree can discolour objects underneath it. Large branches can sometimes break off and there are serious environmental problems caused by this species in coastal and near-coastal areas. Less invasive alternatives include brush box (''

Lophostemon confertus ''Lophostemon confertus'' (syn. ''Tristania conferta'') is an evergreen tree native to Australia, though it is cultivated in the United States and elsewhere. Common names include brush box, Queensland box, Brisbane box, pink box, box scrub, and ...

''), Moreton Bay ash (''

Corymbia tessellaris ''Corymbia tessellaris'', commonly known as carbeen or Moreton Bay ash, is a species of tree that is Endemism, endemic to north-eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the lower trunk abruptly changing to smooth, whitish bark above, ...

'') and Queensland maple ('' Flindersia brayleyana '').

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2998193 torelliana Myrtales of Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1877 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller