Red Bloodwood – Corymbia gummifera
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Natural History
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Other Names: Bloodwood, buna (Yuggarabul), boona (Dharawal), wuruumanga (Gumbaynggirr)
Distinctive Characteristics: The evergreen Red Bloodwood is a species of eucalypt so named because of its dark-pink to dark-red heartwood and its distinctive blood-red-colored sap. The bark is rough and fibrous, and the white flowers are showy. It usually grows as a tree, but may also take the form of a mallee (meaning that it reproduces from multiple stems and trunks that arise from underground lignotubers). Some mallee groves are dated to thousands of years old.
Distribution: Native to coastal Australia, from extreme eastern New South Wales into southeastern Queensland as far north as Fraser Island, with isolated populations inland in Wondai State Forest, Mt. Walsh National Park, and northeast of Toowoomba. Elevation: sea level to 2,600 ft. (800 m).
Ecosystem: Grows on flat areas, low hills, or sand dunes, in tall, open woodlands in pure stands or in community with many other eucalypts, including Blackbutt, Stringybark, Grey Gum, Ash, Silvertop, Scribbly Gum, Sydney Peppermint, and Angophora, as well as Banksia. Understory plants include eriostemon, spike waddle and gymea lilies.
Maximum Age: Estimated at 200 years.
Maximum Height and Girth: 197 ft. (60 m) in height; 53.5 ft. (16.3 m) in circumference.
Animal Community: Cockatoos eat the seeds. The sap is an important feeding source for sugar glider possums, who actively scar the tree bark to access it. Invertebrates consume the flower nectar. A range of species of birds and bats breed and roost in the hollows of older trees. The flowers attract parrots, galahs and other cockatoos.
Traditional Uses:
Medicine: A poultice of mud and leaves was used to stop bleeding. The sap was used as an antibacterial and anti-fungal (Gumbaynggirr). The sap was also used to treat venereal diseases, diarrhea, and inflammation of the bladder. Charcoal from the bark was used as an antiseptic. The sap was used for toothaches and as a mouthwash (Dharawal).
Food: The flowers were sucked or soaked in water to make a sweet drink.
Fiber: Fibers of balga grass were soaked in the gum before making cordage from them.
Tools and Objects: The gum was used to adhere tools and weapons. The gum was mixed with ironbark to tan string (Dharawal). The bark was used to tan cabbage tree palms for ropes and fishnets (Dharawal). The hollowed out branches or young trunks were made into didgeridoos.
Art and Ceremony: The sap was used for mixing with paints for decorating objects and art on cave walls (Dharawal).
Modern Uses: Its strong and durable heartwood has been used for fencing, poles, railroad ties, and mining timbers.
Threats and Conservation: While the species itself is not in danger, a grove of great ecological importance is at risk in the ancient sand dunes of Spring Gully, in and around the Royal National Park of Bundeena.
Distinctive Characteristics: The evergreen Red Bloodwood is a species of eucalypt so named because of its dark-pink to dark-red heartwood and its distinctive blood-red-colored sap. The bark is rough and fibrous, and the white flowers are showy. It usually grows as a tree, but may also take the form of a mallee (meaning that it reproduces from multiple stems and trunks that arise from underground lignotubers). Some mallee groves are dated to thousands of years old.
Distribution: Native to coastal Australia, from extreme eastern New South Wales into southeastern Queensland as far north as Fraser Island, with isolated populations inland in Wondai State Forest, Mt. Walsh National Park, and northeast of Toowoomba. Elevation: sea level to 2,600 ft. (800 m).
Ecosystem: Grows on flat areas, low hills, or sand dunes, in tall, open woodlands in pure stands or in community with many other eucalypts, including Blackbutt, Stringybark, Grey Gum, Ash, Silvertop, Scribbly Gum, Sydney Peppermint, and Angophora, as well as Banksia. Understory plants include eriostemon, spike waddle and gymea lilies.
Maximum Age: Estimated at 200 years.
Maximum Height and Girth: 197 ft. (60 m) in height; 53.5 ft. (16.3 m) in circumference.
Animal Community: Cockatoos eat the seeds. The sap is an important feeding source for sugar glider possums, who actively scar the tree bark to access it. Invertebrates consume the flower nectar. A range of species of birds and bats breed and roost in the hollows of older trees. The flowers attract parrots, galahs and other cockatoos.
Traditional Uses:
Medicine: A poultice of mud and leaves was used to stop bleeding. The sap was used as an antibacterial and anti-fungal (Gumbaynggirr). The sap was also used to treat venereal diseases, diarrhea, and inflammation of the bladder. Charcoal from the bark was used as an antiseptic. The sap was used for toothaches and as a mouthwash (Dharawal).
Food: The flowers were sucked or soaked in water to make a sweet drink.
Fiber: Fibers of balga grass were soaked in the gum before making cordage from them.
Tools and Objects: The gum was used to adhere tools and weapons. The gum was mixed with ironbark to tan string (Dharawal). The bark was used to tan cabbage tree palms for ropes and fishnets (Dharawal). The hollowed out branches or young trunks were made into didgeridoos.
Art and Ceremony: The sap was used for mixing with paints for decorating objects and art on cave walls (Dharawal).
Modern Uses: Its strong and durable heartwood has been used for fencing, poles, railroad ties, and mining timbers.
Threats and Conservation: While the species itself is not in danger, a grove of great ecological importance is at risk in the ancient sand dunes of Spring Gully, in and around the Royal National Park of Bundeena.
