Not all eucalypts are gums but all gums are eucalypts. Really? Are they? At our last meeting held at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden President John Knight discussed the features which help us recognise which Eucalypt is which. Only Eucalypts found in the south east of NSW were featured in this talk.
Above: President John Knight helping our group to identify eucalypts in the Arboretum
The day commenced with a presentation showing how to arrange the various Eucalypts into smaller groups using simple easily recognised features. Using a revised but simple recognition key, first developed by ERBG’s then employee Ryan Harris for the BGANZ conference in 2008, features can be further divided into groups to determine what Eucalypt we are looking at.
After lunch we wandered through the ERBG Arboretum looking at the trees growing there and, using the features discussed earlier, we used our newfound knowledge to identify as many trees as time and interest allowed.
Our usual “show and tell” segment provided an array of blooms and foliage from members’ gardens and lunch was enjoyed as always in the beautiful environs of the Botanic Gardens.
It’s now twenty years since a meeting of 16 interested persons at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens formed the South-East NSW regional group on 3rd May 1997 . The area covered by the Group was defined as east of the escarpment from Milton to the Victorian border.
The inaugural office bearers were Robin Corringham (President), Andrew Hanby (Secretary), John Knight (Treasurer) and Ainsworth Patroni (Newsletter). Twenty years and several committees later we are still a vibrant group on the south coast with many more members. www.southeast.austplants.com.au
