What is a river red gum?
The river red gum is a large eucalyptus tree that grows along rivers and floodplains across mainland Australia. It is the most widespread eucalypt and is iconic in the Murray-Darling Basin.
River red gums can grow to about 45 metres tall and live for hundreds of years, some for more than 500 years. They have smooth, patchy white, grey and red bark and thick, twisted branches.
The trees need periodic flooding to survive and regenerate. The Barmah-Millewa Forest on the Murray River is the largest river red gum forest in the world.
Homes for wildlife
Old river red gums develop many hollows used by parrots, possums, bats and owls. Fallen branches provide shelter for fish in rivers.
River red gums are sometimes called widow makers, as they can drop heavy limbs without warning, so campers should not set up beneath them.
Many Aboriginal scarred trees, from which bark was cut to make canoes, shields and containers, are river red gums, and these cultural sites are protected. The timber is hard and red, and it was used for railway sleepers, wharves and fence posts. Reduced flooding from river regulation has stressed many red gum forests, and environmental water is now delivered to help them.
Did You Know?
The river red gum's scientific name is Eucalyptus camaldulensis, named after a garden near Naples in Italy where an early specimen grew.