Woody > Corymbia > Corymbia ficifolia > Corymbia ficifolia
Corymbia ficifolia
Red Flowering Gum
Origin: Corymbia ficifolia is native to the coastal sands in south-western Australia.
Mike's
Opinion
"
The red flowering gum is a vibrant tree with some abstract features. The dark fig-like leaves provide a gentle background for the bright flower clusters, allowing for a strong focal point within the tree. The red flowering gum is quite a dramatic looking tree with its medium height, bright flowers, long reaching limbs -- it is very stunning to look at. It creates barriers and windbreaks in the natural landscape and provides some general medicinal use as well. This tree is fairly low maintenance and forgiving when it comes to cultivation and general maintenance. This tree allows for some vibrancy within everyday life, enhancing landscapes.
Michael Pascoe, NDP., ODH., CLT., MSc. (Plant Conservation)
"
| Family |
| Myrtaceae |
| Genus |
| Corymbia |
| Species |
| ficifolia |
| Category |
| Woody |
| Type |
| Tree (evergreen) |
| USDA Hardiness Zone |
| 9 - 11 |
| Canadian Hardiness Zone |
| 7 - 9 |
| RHS Hardiness Zone |
| H3 |
| Temperature (°C) |
| (-3.8) - 43 |
| Temperature (°F) |
| 26.6 - 109.4 |
| Height |
| 5 - 12 m |
| Spread |
| 4 - 18 m |
Photographs
Cultivars
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Description and Growing Information
Flowering Period
| General Description |
| Corymbia ficifolia is a small evergreen tree with vibrant red flowers and dark cup-like nuts. The leaves are pennate and dark green in colour. This tree provides ornamental landscape interest throughout its rough bark, dark green leaves and brightly coloured flowers. |
| Landscape |
| Red flowering gum is used in ornamental landscaping for its vibrant colours and pleasant scent. This dense evergreen is the perfect tree to use as shade, street, and when planted in mass barriers or windbreaks. The bright red flowers and rough bark make for a great accent plant for the everyday landscaper. The tree is low-maintenance, and the wood is often collected for timber and/or burnwood. |
| Cultivation |
| The Red flowering gum prefers full sun but is able to survive with partial shade while young. It has no soil preference, as long as there is good drainage. It will still thrive in nutrient deficient and poor soils. The best time to use a slow-release fertiliser is after the soil warms up in the early spring. Red flowering gum will tolerate urban conditions and grow next to buildings, driveways and other structures. It is also drought tolerant. |
| Shape |
| Upright, round, irregular crown outline. |
| Growth |
| Fast |
| ID Characteristic |
| The red flowering gum has glossy, dark green foliage. Very showy, red flowers bloom in late summer as well as random flowers blooming throughout the year. Medium, dark fruit, which will dry out and fall off of the tree throughout the winter months. The bark is brownish/red in colour and will not shed. |
| Pests |
| Corymbia ficifolia is resistant to Texas root rot and verticillium. Red flowering gum is also considered deer resistant, but is prone to shothole borer, beetle borers, armillaria and phytophthora. |
| Habitat |
| Red flowering gum typically grows in loam sandy soil within a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summer and cool, moist winters. |
| Bark/Stem Description |
| Fast growing single stemmed evergreen with upright branches. The bark is rough and fibrous with a brown, reddish colour which does not shed. |
| Flower/Leaf Bud Description |
| Average sized leaf buds. Flower buds are light pink and will form in dense clusters. |
| Leaf Description |
| Dark green, ovate, broadleaf evergreen with pinnate venation. The leaf size varies from 5 cm - 10 cm. No autumn colour change. Dead leaves will fall to allow new leaf growth. |
| Flower Description |
| Flowers are red to reddish-orange in colour, with chartreuse centres, and a pleasant fragrance. They bloom in late summer and appear to have thin, fuzzy petals reaching from the centre. Clusters of 7 are formed, of various sizes ranging up to 23.2 mm. |
| Fruit Description |
| Red flowering gum has showy oval, round fruit, brown/green in colour. Fruit size ranges from 2.5 cm - 7.6 cm. |
| Colour Description |
| Corymbia ficifolia has glossy dark green leaves and reddish/brown bark year round. Vibrant red, or red orange flowering bloom in late summer or randomly throughout the year. During spring, summer, and autumn the red flowering gum has brown fruit, which will dry out and fall right before winter. |
| Texture Description |
| Medium. |
| Propagation |
| The main method for propagation is by seed. When planting by seed, use a medium pot with moist/well-drained soil. Lay the seeds flat, and wait for germination. Once germinated, in around 10-28 days, relocate the plant to partial-full sun with well-drained soil, either in a larger pot or in your garden. Continue to water once a week. |
| Ethnobotanical Uses (Disclaimer) |
| Red flowering gum provides a large variety of interest through lumber, aesthetics, essential oils and eucalyptus oil. Essential oils have been known to calm the mind with its soothing scents and aromas. Eucalyptus oil gets extracted from the leaves of the red flowering gum and sold for the use in food, perfume, and pharmaceuticals with its ability to soothe irritated skin. Recent studies have proven that the eucalyptus oil has some insecticidal, herbicidal and fungicidal properties. The use of natural oils will knock out pests and reduce the pest resistance. |
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