About Eucalyptus dalrympleana Maiden
Eucalyptus dalrympleana Maiden, commonly known as mountain gum, is a tree that usually grows up to 40 metres (130 feet) tall and forms a lignotuber. Its bark is smooth, ranging from white to yellowish, and it sometimes has a short section of rough bark at the base. Leaves on young plants and coppice regrowth are arranged in opposite pairs, with a shape that can be egg-shaped, heart-shaped, or roughly round, and are 25–70 millimetres long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, ranging from lance-shaped to curved, and are the same colour on both sides. They are 80–220 millimetres long, 10–40 millimetres wide, and grow on a petiole that is 12–35 millimetres long. Flower buds are arranged in groups of three or seven in leaf axils, on a peduncle 3–12 millimetres long. Individual buds are either sessile or on a pedicel up to 3 millimetres long. Mature buds are oval, green to yellow, 6–10 millimetres long and 3–6 millimetres wide, with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering mainly occurs between March and June, and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody capsule, which can be cup-shaped, bell-shaped, or hemispherical, and is 3–8 millimetres long and 5–9 millimetres wide. This species grows in woodland and forest at higher elevations in far south-eastern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. Subspecies heptantha is only found in far south-eastern Queensland and on the northern tablelands of New South Wales. Subspecies dalrympleana occurs south from the central and southern tablelands of New South Wales. The species is rare in South Australia, where it only grows in the Mount Lofty Ranges. When cultivated in the UK, E. dalrympleana is fully hardy down to −15 °C (5 °F), but prefers some shelter. It grows best in full sun, and has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
