Eucalyptus bridgesiana apple box

Eucalyptus bridgesiana grove, Arboretum. Sairus Patel, 26 Jan 2022

Eucalyptus bridgesiana on Lasuen Street, south of Arboretum Road. Matt Ritter, May 2006

A mysterious grove of 10 apple boxes is southwest of the intersection of Arboretum Road and Lasuen Street. No record or story of its planting is known. The species is extremely rare in California; one old specimen stands at the Capitol Park in Sacramento. One of ours is growing from a stump, showcasing the rounded juvenile leaves with finely scalloped edges covered in white wax. (E. crenulata has scalloped-edged leaves as well.) Tips on the new growth are pink-tinged. Intermediate leaf forms can also be noticed; they represent a transitional stage to the unremarkable lance-shaped adult leaves. (An individual leaf is only of one form; it does not morph across stages.)

The tree’s name may have come from its rough gray bark, similar to that of an apple tree. The smaller branchlets are smooth. The trunks are usually short; most of ours branch close to the ground and spread out above in a wide crown. Capsules are in groups of 7 on a slightly flattened peduncle. The valves protrude out from the top of the mature capsule.

Eucalyptus bridgesiana fruit and flower buds. John Rawlings

Illustrations: Eucalyptus bridgesiana gallery.

Related material: Eucalypus Checklist.