Yellow bloodwood is a gnarled Australian tree of the myrtle family, native to the Sydney Basin and central New South Wales, grown mainly as a street or backyard tree. Key to growing it is full sun and free-draining soil, as it is adapted to dry, sandstone sites.
Family
Myrtaceae (Myrtle family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water young trees regularly until established, then rely mostly on rainfall and water deeply during long dry spells.
Soil
Well-drained sandy or sandstone-derived soil; tolerates poor, shallow soils.
Temperature
Subtropical to warm temperate; tolerates heat and light frost, with young plants protected from hard frost.
How easy
Easy
Native range
E. New South Wales
Climate
subtropical
About
Corymbia eximia, commonly known as yellow bloodwood, is a bloodwood native to New South Wales. It occurs around the Sydney Basin often in high rainfall areas on shallow sandstone soils on plateaux or escarpments, in fire prone areas. Growing as a gnarled tree to 20 m (66 ft), it is recognisable by its distinctive yellow-brown tessellated bark. The greyish green leaves are thick and veiny, and lanceolate spear- or sickle-shaped. The cream flowerheads grow in panicles in groups of seven and appear in spring. Known for many years as Eucalyptus eximia, the yellow bloodwood was transferred into the new genus Corymbia in 1995 when it was erected by Ken Hill and Lawrie Johnson. It is still seen under the earlier name in some works.
Where it grows
The yellow bloodwood is found in central New South Wales from Howes Valley in the north to Tolwong in the south. Around the Sydney Basin, it is common on sandstone plateaux and escarpments in the vicinity of the Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers, and lower Blue Mountains, particularly on western aspects of slopes. It is seen up to altitudes of 500 metres, with annual rainfall of 730–1800 mm. It grows in dry sclerophyll forest on sandstone soils, associated with such species as red bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera), dwarf apple (Angophora hispida), smooth-barked apple (A. costata), narrow-leaved stringybark (Eucalyptus sparsifolia), white stringybark (E. globoidea), Sydney peppermint (E. piperita), grey gum (E. punctata), scribbly gums (E. haemastoma and E. racemosa) and black sheoak (Allocasuarina littoralis).
Uses
The relatively small size and rarity of Corymbia eximia meant it was rarely used as timber. It has been used as a street tree in Australian cities, and its small size and attractive bark make it a good tree for backyards, although it is too large for small gardens. It flowers prolifically, but the flowering period is short. C. eximia was listed in the catalogue of Treseder's nursery of Truro in Cornwall in 1905.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Corymbia eximia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.