Eucalyptus viminalis, commonly known as the manna gum, white gum or ribbon gum, is species of small to very tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough bark near the base, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white flowers and cup-shaped or hemispherical fruit.
Description
Eucalyptus viminalis is a tree that typically grows to a height of, sometimes to, and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth, often powdery, white to pale brown bark that is shed in long ribbons, sometimes hanging on the upper branches, and sometimes with rough, fibrous bark on the lower trunk. Young plants and coppice regrowth have sessile, lance-shaped to curved or oblong leaves long, wide and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of three or seven on an umbranched peduncle long, the individual buds sessile or on pedicels up to long. Mature buds are oval to spindle-shaped, long and wide with a conical, rounded or beaked operculum. Flowering occurs from December to May and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped or hemispherical capsule long and wide with the valves prominently protruding.
Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus viminalis was first formally described in 1806 by Jacques Labillardière in his book Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen. The specific epithet is a Latin word meaning "bearing shoots or ribbons for wicker work. The following subspecies are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. cygnetensisBoomsma is a spreading tree to with rough bark on the lower half of the trunk, and flower buds usually in groups of seven;
Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. hentyensisBrooker & Slee has little rough bark, coarse, broad juvenile leaves and flower buds in groups of three or seven;
Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. pryoriana Brooker & Slee, previously known as Eucalyptus pryoriana L.A.S.Johnson is a spreading tree to tall, with rough bark and flower buds in groups of three;
Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. siliceanaRule is a shady tree to tall with rough bark on the trunk, flower buds in groups of three and seven, fruit wide and tip on the seedlings;
Eucalyptus viminalis Labill. subsp. viminalis is most easily distinguished by it many pairs of sessile, lance-shaped, green juvenile leaves that are arranged in opposite pairs. It is also usually smooth-barked and has flower buds mostly in groups of three.
Distribution and habitat
Subspecies cygnetensis, commonly known as the rough-barked manna gum, grows in the higher rainfall areas of South Australia, including Kangaroo Island and the southern Mount Lofty Ranges and as far east as the Grampians in Victoria. Subspecies hentyensis, commonly known as the western Tasmanian sand gum, grows in sandy soil on the west coast of Tasmania, north from Strahan. Subspecies pryoriana, commonly known as the Gippsland manna gum, grows in sandy, coastal soil from the Bellarine Peninsula to Lake Tyers in the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria. Subspecies siliceana is known only from the Wail State Forest in the Wimmera region of Victoria, where it grows in deep sand. Subspecies viminalis is widely distributed and abundant in the well-watered areas of south-eastern Australia, from the coast and ranges of New South Wales, the southern half of Victoria, the Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island in south-eastern South Australia. It also occurs in Tasmania where some specimens are almost tall.
Uses
s used the wood of the tree to make shields and wooden bowls. The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that common names included "White Gum" or "Swamp Gum" of Tasmania. It is also called "Manna Gum". Other names are "Grey Gum" "Blue Gum" "Drooping Gum" and that "From the bark of this tree a kind of manna exudes. It is a crumbly white substance, of a very pleasant, sweet taste, and in much request by the aborigines . A white, nearly opaque manna from the normal E. viminalis was found by Mr. Bauerlen at Monga, near Braidwood. It is in small pieces, about the size of peas, but of irregular, flattened shape. In appearance it very much resembles lime which has naturally crumbled or slacked by exposure to a moist atmosphere. It is composed of an unfermentable sugar called Eucalin, which is peculiar to the sap of the Eucalyptus, together with a fermentable sugar, supposed to be Dextroglucose. The manna is derived from the exudation of the sap, which " drying in the hot parched air of the midsummer, leaves the sugary solid remains in a gradually increasing lump, which ultimately falls off, covering the ground in little irregular masses. This exudation of the sap is said by McCoy to take place from the boring of the "Great Black or Manna Cicada" The Hon. William Macleay of Sydney is, however, by no means of that opinion, as he thinks it cannot be doubted that the manna is the work of a gall-making Coccus. The subject requires clearing up, and it is to be hoped that a naturalist will give his earnest attention to the matter."
