Eucalyptus crebra narrow-leaved ironbark

A handsome ironbark, this species’ abundance in its native range is acknowledged in its name: Latin creber means numerous or crowded. It will inevitably be compared to the red ironbark (E. sideroxylon), which is much more crebrous on campus. The dark, fissured bark, with grayish ridges and sometimes cinnamon valleys, is similar, though the leaves are noticeably narrower and the buds and fruits much smaller. Flowers are always white.

Two fine specimens remain of three beneath the canopy of the great Torrey pine at the northwest corner of Palm Drive and Arboretum Road, a two-trunked tree on the Palm Drive side of the chain and bollard barrier – declared a national champion in 2025 – and another a few dozen feet to the north. Seed gathered from these in 2006 was used to raise the three saplings planted in the Bracewell Memorial Grove a couple of years later, thus somewhat improving the crebrity of this attractive species on campus.

Related material: Eucalyptus checklist | Eucalypt voucher gallery.