This is another of my favourite dye plants, and another Eucalypt that is as-yet-identified. It has very fine leaves and a lovely weeping habit. I’ve used it to create tablecloths with leaf prints cascading across them.
For much of the year the trunk is white to grey, and then as it enters the period of the year when it sheds its bark, pinks and reds begin to appear. It looks like I’ll be visiting again soon to collect bark.
When I visited today there were several generations of fruit as well as white flowers on the tree. I had a very funny visit to this tree last year. I pulled over on my bike and was harvesting when people pulled up in the driveway next to it. I greeted them, since there was no way to pretend this wasn’t happening. They were glad I was trimming the tree and explained that they thought the council should be pruning it more diligently. I offered to come back and prevent it hanging over the footpath and they were enthusiastic, so I came back with a friend, secateurs, a chook food sack and a milk crate a few days later. Very funny! There was I being selective and taking little… until we went back and took a sackful of leaves, which have lasted through the winter.
Local & Bespoke 