Eucalyptus resinifera red mahogany

Eucalyptus resinifera fruit with valves exserted but not yet open. John Rawlings

A tall, single-trunked tree with rough, reddish, stringy bark that extends over the branches and has dense, red wood that reminded early Australian colonists of Jamaican mahogany. The leaves are broad, glossy green on top and paler green below. A row of eight neat trees was planted about 1950 on Campus Drive near Maples Pavilion in front of the Sports Cafe. At least one E. nicholii, also with persistent, rough bark, was mixed in. All were removed in 2013 when giant sequoias became the new theme tree for the area.

E. resinifera and the closely related E. pellita have fibrous bark throughout; adult leaves that are alternate, green, and discolorous; and exserted valves that number 3–4.

Eucalyptus resinifera buds and fruit. From: Australia Forestry and Timber Bureau, Illustrations of the buds and fruits of eucalyptus species, 4th ed., 1962

Eucalyptus resinifera voucher. Courtesy of Prof. Matt Ritter and Robert F. Hoover Herbarium, Cal Poly State University

Related material: Eucalyptus checklist.