Bundy (Eucalyptus goniocalyx) buds and flowers

BOTANICAL NAME Eucalyptus goniocalyx

COMMON NAME Bundy, Long-leaved Box

FAMILY Myrtaceae (Myrtle family)

SPECIES NAMING Angled calyx (calyx: collective name of sepals, which form the outer whorl of flowers)

GROWTH HABIT Small, low branching tree to 15 m tall, with short trunk

BARK Grey-brown coarsely flaky box bark up to small branches, sometimes blocky and deeply fissured at base

LEAVES Adult leaves are stalked, alternate, lance-shaped to 24 cm long; juvenile leaves without stalks, opposite, heart-shaped and glaucous (covered with white coat which gives them a blue green appearance)

BUDS Umbel of 5-7 stalk-less and stout buds (umbel: flowers arising from a common point), flowers irregular from March to August

FRUITS Stalk-less barrel- or cup-shaped woody capsules (gum “nuts”) with flat top and slightly protruding valves

OCCURANCE  On shallow rocky soils of ridges and hills

WHERE TO SEE On the drain line close to the Hackett reservoir off Rivett / French Streets; along the fire trail east of the Majura paddocks, along the western part of Casuarina trail and along trail up to the summit; plantings at the old sheep camp Mount Maura ridge

NOTES Uncommon in the ACT; flowers provide excellent food source for nectar feeding birds including the endangered Swift Parrots, sugar gliders and insects; boobook owls and bats visit flowering bundy to hunt the moths that feed on nectar

Photographs: Waltraud Pix; Swift Parrots by Geoffrey Dabb