Corymbia

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Corymbia is a genus of about 113 species of tree that were classified as Eucalyptus species until the mid-1990s. It includes the bloodwoods and ghost gums. The bloodwoods had been recognised as a distinct group within the large and diverse Eucalyptus genus since 1867. Molecular research in the 1990s, however, showed that they, along with the ghost gums, are more closely related to Angophora than to Eucalyptus, and are probably best regarded as a separate genus. All three genera - Angophora, Corymbia and Eucalyptus - are closely related, often difficult to tell apart, and are still commonly and correctly referred to as "eucalypts".

Some of the better known corymbias are:

• Corymbia calophylla (Marri or Port Gregory Gum).
• Corymbia citriodora (Lemon-scented Gum). A tall, smooth-trunked tree native to central and northern Queensland and planted in many other areas, well known for the beauty of its white or light grey trunk and instantly recognisable by the strong lemon scent of its leaves.
• Corymbia ficifolia (Red Flowering Gum).
• Corymbia maculata (Spotted Gum). Another popular garden tree which sheds its bark in a distinctive irregular round patches which take on a range of different colours from cream through blue-grey to orange, pink or red. Native to coastal New South Wales and south-east Queensland but planted in many areas, the Spotted Gum is also valued for its tough, fine-grained timber, which is used for tool handles and other applications where hardness and resistance to warping is essential, e.g. axle blocks for wooden cart wheels.

External links

• [A New Name for the Bloodwood and Ghost Gum Eucalypts]
• [A short essay about the eucalypts reclassification debate]

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