Eucalyptus grandis, commonly known as the flooded gum or rose gum, is a tall tree with smooth bark, rough at the base fibrous or flaky, grey to grey-brown. At maturity, it reaches 50 metres (160 feet) tall, though the largest specimens can exceed 80 metres (260 feet) tall. It is found on coastal areas and sub-coastal ranges from Newcastle in New South Wales Australia northwards to west of Daintree in Queensland, mainly on flat land and lower slopes, where it is the dominant tree of wet forests and on the margins of rainforests.
Where it grows
E. grandis is found on coastal areas and sub-coastal ranges from the vicinity of Newcastle in New South Wales northwards to Bundaberg in central Queensland with disjunct populations further north near Mackay, Townsville and Daintree in northern Queensland, mainly on flat land and lower slopes. The soils are deep fertile alluvial loams. The annual rainfall varies from 1100 to 3500 mm. It is the dominant tree of wet forest and rain forest margins, either growing in pure stands or mixed with trees such as blackbutt (E. pilularis), tallowwood (E. microcorys), red mahogany (E. resinifera), Sydney blue gum (E. saligna), pink bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia), turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera), brush box (Lophostemon confertus) and forest oak (Allocasuarina torulosa).
Uses
Flooded gum is an attractive, straight-trunked tree much in demand outside Australia for timber and pulp. Within Australia, plantations exist in northern New South Wales, where seedlings have put on 7 metres (23 feet) of growth in their first year. The timber has a pinkish tinge and is used in joinery, flooring, boat building, panelling and plywood. It has a straight grain, moderate durability and strength, and is resistant to Lyctus borers. Hybrids with river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) are used to combat salinity. Eucalyptus grandis is a food plant of paropsine beetles of the family Chrysomelidae and Christmas beetles, the latter often defoliating trees of Australia's east coast. Clones of Eucalyptus grandis have been selected and bred on the basis of unpalatability to the brown Christmas beetle (Anoplognathus chloropyrus) to minimise damage to plantations.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eucalyptus grandis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.