Corymbia citriodora
Location: Behind and to the right of the back bunker on the 8th green
| Other locations on course: | There are many lemon scented gums scattered round the course.
Behind and to the left side of the 2nd green. |
| Origin & distribution: | Coastal and central Queensland and coastal New South Wales. |
| Height: | to 50 metres. |
| Uses: | The timber is used for construction, piles and poles. |
It can sometimes be very difficult to distinguish spotted gums from lemon scented gums. This can be due to hybridization of the species.
There are a number of distinguishing features. The lemon scented gum has a very strong scent while the spotted gum has none. The spotted gum has large bark patches and darker upper limbs. The leaves in the crown of the lemon scented gum hang down whilst those of the spotted gum do so less obviously.
Lemon scented gums are graceful trees, with long flowing branches and fine canopies.
Lemon scented gums have a reputation for sudden limb failure.
Its leaves, which release a strong scent of lemon, are used in herbal medicine to cure colds, sore throats and chest infections. The bark peeling at the beginning of summer is, for this species alone, a magical moment. From pure white, the bark suddenly takes on rosy tints. It peels off from cracks that resemble a zip, revealing a blue colouring. Upon being exposed to the sun, a symphony of colour changes starts up, and, in the space of a few weeks, the whole bark turns grey-white, then yellow, then a pale salmon colour; a brilliant example of the tree’s appearance changing with the seasons.
(sources: Richard Allen and Kimball Baker; Cedric Pollet)
“Little of what we value here, wakes on the morn of its one hundredth year, without feeling good and looking queer. In fact, there’s nothing that keeps its youth so far as I know, but a tree and the truth” (Oliver Wendell Holmes SR)