''Corymbia'', commonly known as bloodwoods, is a genus of about one hundred species of tree that, along with ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

'', ''

Angophora ''Angophora'' is a genus of nine species of trees and shrubs in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Endemic to eastern Australia, they differ from other eucalypts in having juvenile and adult leaves arranged in opposite pairs, sepals reduced to projec ...

'' and several smaller groups, are referred to as

eucalypts Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosynca ...

. Until 1990, corymbias were included in the genus ''Eucalyptus'' and there is still considerable disagreement among botanists as to whether separating them is valid. As of January 2020, ''Corymbia'' is an accepted name at the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

Description

Eucalypts in the genus ''Corymbia'' are trees, sometimes mallee-like, that either have rough, fibrous or flaky bark, or smooth bark that is shed in small flakes or short strips. Young plants and

coppice Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...

regrowth have leaves that differ from adult leaves. The adult leaves are arranged alternately (strictly disjunct opposite, but appearing alternate), with oil glands. The flower buds are arranged in groups on a branching peduncle, each branch usually with seven buds, but with the

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

of differing lengths, so that the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is flat-topped or convex. The

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

are joined to the

filament The word filament, which is descended from Latin ''filum'' meaning " thread", is used in English for a variety of thread-like structures, including: Astronomy * Galaxy filament, the largest known cosmic structures in the universe * Solar filament ...

at their mid-point and open by parallel slits. As in ''Eucalyptus'', the five

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are fused to form an outer calyptra (or operculum) and the five petals an inner calyptra, the two calyptra being shed separately or together as the flower opens. Also as in ''Eucalyptus'' the fruit is usually a woody capsule, but in this case the disc is always depressed and the valves are always enclosed.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Corymbia'' was first formally described in 1995 by Ken Hill and

Lawrie Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic botany, botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Garden ...

in the journal '' Telopea''. The type species is '' C. gummifera''. The genus name, ''Corymbia'' is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''corymbus'', meaning "a

corymb Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

". The bloodwoods had been recognised as a distinct group within the large and diverse genus ''Eucalyptus'' since 1867. Molecular research in the 1990s, however, showed that they, along with the rest of the section Corymbia, are more closely related to ''

'' than to ''Eucalyptus'', and are now regarded as a separate genus by the

. All three genera, ''Angophora'', ''Corymbia'' and ''Eucalyptus'', are closely related, and are generally referred to as "

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

s". Botanists Ken Hill and Lawrie Johnson were the first to define the genus ''Corymbia'' in 1995, identifying the bloodwoods, ghost gums and spotted gums as a group distinct from ''Eucalyptus''. Since 1995, there have been ongoing investigations into the relationships between the genera. Genetic analysis of ETS and ITS sequences of DNA in 2006 by Carlos Parra-O and colleagues of 67 taxa (47 of which were within ''Corymbia'') yielded ''Corymbia'' and ''Angophora'' as each other's closest relatives, with the genus ''Eucalyptus'' as an earlier offshoot. The small genera ''

Eucalyptopsis ''Eucalyptopsis'' is a genus of describing two species of trees, constituting part of the plant family Myrtaceae and included in the eucalypts group. They have botanical records of growing naturally in New Guinea and the Moluccas, within the Mal ...

'', ''

Stockwellia ''Stockwellia'' is a monotypic genus in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae. The sole species in the genus, ''Stockwellia quadrifida'' (commonly known as Vic Stockwell's puzzle), is endemic to Queensland. Description ''Stockwellia quadrifida' ...

'' and ''

Allosyncarpia ''Allosyncarpia ternata'', commonly known as ''an-binik'', is a species of rainforest trees constituting part of the botanical family Myrtaceae and included in the eucalypts group. The only species in its genus, it was described in 1981 by Stan ...

'' formed a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

which arose earlier still. In 2009, Parra-O and colleagues added more taxa and published a combined analysis of nuclear rDNA (ETS + ITS) and morphological characters published to clarify relationships within the genus. This confirmed two main clades, which they defined as the subgenera ''Corymbia'' and ''Blakella''.

Species list

Distribution

Species of ''Corymbia'' occur in all mainland states of Australia and in the Northern Territory. There are about 100 species, all

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Australia except for four species that also occur in New Guinea, and one that is endemic to that country. Image:Gumnuts02.jpg, ''Corymbia'', capsules (fruit) Image:Corymbia flowers.jpg, ''Corymbia'' flowers Image:Gumnut tree.jpg, ''Corymbia'' capsules (fruit)

References

External links

Lucid Online Player - EUCLID Eucalypts of Australia
(

Multi-access key In biology or medicine, a multi-access key is an identification key which overcomes the problem of the more traditional single-access key In phylogenetics, a single-access key (also called dichotomous key, sequential key, analytical key, or pathway ...

to 917 species/subspecies taxonomy as of December 2009, Includes Corymbias and Angophoras.)
A New Name for the Bloodwood and Ghost Gum Eucalypts

Currency Creek Arboretum Eucalypt Research
at

Currency Creek Arboretum 270px, Eucalyptus_deanei.html"_;"title="Dean_Nicolle_and_Eucalyptus_deanei">Dean_Nicolle_and_Eucalyptus_deanei_ image:Eucalyptus-20070325-013.jpg.html" ;"title="Eucalyptus_deanei_.html" ;"title="Eucalyptus_deanei.html" ;"title="Dean Nicolle and ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1439250 Myrtaceae genera Myrtales of Australia Ornamental trees Flora of New Guinea