Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Red River Gum)

Natural Range – Throughout Australia

E. camaldulensis grows in many inland arid areas of Australia much of it along the river margins and waterways. Here rainfall ranges from 300 - 600mm per year with up to 20 frosts per year. It can develop into medium to tall tree with a large bole, up to 2 m dbh and sometimes larger. It has an open crown and often poor stem form.

E. camaldulensis is also grown extensively around the world in arid and semi-arid areas. Tree breeding programmes in WA, NSW and Chile include this species. It has been extensively tested in Israel, South Africa and Mediterranean parts of Europe. Thus this species offers the best opportunity for sourcing improved material.

This is a class 2 durable species whose mature wood typically has basic density values of 900-1000 kg/m3. The wood is red with a fine texture and interlocked wavy grain. It is hard, durable and resistant to termites.

Proseed has investigated the breeding work reported on this species and established there is differentiation between a northern (summer rainfall) and southern form (winter rainfall) of this species. NZDFI will focus on obtaining collections from the southern provenances, in particular Lake Albacutya in Victoria. This has proved to be the best provenance in tests in the winter rainfall zones in Australia, California and the Mediterranean. In Australia, seedlings from the southern provenances are recorded as surviving winter frosts of -7º to -10º C and the species has superior drought tolerance.