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Brush Turpentine

Rhodamnia rubescens

Also called Brown Malletwood, Scrub Turpentine

Brush Turpentine
Photo: Poyt448 Peter Woodard, CC0

Brush turpentine is an evergreen rainforest tree from eastern Australia, identified by its stringy reddish bark and triple-veined leaves. It is grown mainly as a shade or ornamental tree in mild, frost-free climates, and is threatened by myrtle rust.

Family
Myrtaceae (Myrtle family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist while young, then water during dry spells; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Moist, well-drained, slightly acidic loam rich in organic matter.
Temperature
15–30 °C; protect below 5 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
E. Australia
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Rhodamnia rubescens, the scrub stringybark, brush turpentine, or brown malletwood, is an evergreen rainforest tree of the myrtle family Myrtaceae, that is native to Eastern Australia. Identified by a stringy type of bark and triple-veined leaves, it grows in a variety of different rainforests from the Batemans Bay region (35° S) of southeastern New South Wales to Gympie (27° S) in southeastern Queensland. It is not seen in the cool temperate rainforests. The pathogen myrtle rust threatens the existence of Rhodamnia rubescens.

Other Rhodamnia plants

Brown Malletwood · Silverback · Smooth Scrub Turpentine · Iron malletwood · White Malletwood · Rhodamnia

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rhodamnia rubescens 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.

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