Plants of
South Australia
Eucalyptus paludicola
Myrtaceae
Fleurieu Swamp Gum,
Mount Compass Swamp Gum,
Swamp Cup Gum
Display all 10 images
Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
Enlarge Map
Copy Map
Copy Map
Display IBRA region text

Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Eucalyptus viminalis, partly

Common names

Fleurieu Swamp Gum

Mount Compass Swamp Gum

Swamp Cup Gum

Etymology

Eucalyptus from the Greek 'eu' meaning well and 'calyptos' meaning covered; alluding to the cap or lid which covers the stamens in the bud. Paludicola from the Latin 'paludosus' meaning marshy and 'cola' meaning dwelling; alluding to the species usual habitat in swampy sites.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found on the Fleurieu Peninsula and on the western side of Kangaroo island, growing in seasonally swampy sites such as broad gullies, depressions and creeks. Native. Very rare in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Single- or multi-stemmed tree to 10 m high with rough, coarsely fissured, fibrous, dark brown bark up to 3 m high and smooth, grey to cream bark above. Juvenile leaves elliptical to orbicular, dull, green. Adult leaves to 210 mm long and 40 mm wide, lanceolate to broad-lanceolate, thickish, dull when young, becoming slightly glossy with age, green to slightly blue-green. Flowers in groups of 7 in the axils of the leaves. Buds to 17 mm long and 9 mm wide, bud-cap short cone-shaped, equal in length to the base. Flowers creamy white appearing in spring. Fruits are cone-shaped to cylinder-shaped fruit to 14 mm long and 12 mm wide, disc level to descending, valves 4 rim level to slightly above. Seeds are dark brown to black ovoid seed to 2 mm long and 1.2 mm wide with wrinkled surface. Seed embryo type is folded.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between January and December. Collect mature fruits that are dark and hard (difficult to break with a finger nail), with the valves un-open any time of year. Leave the fruits in a breathable container in a dry room for one to two weeks. This allows the valves on the fruit to open and release the seeds. Separate the seeds by placing all the materials into a bucket and shaking it to dislodge the seeds. Pass the material through a sieve to separate the unwanted material. The finer material will contain both seeds (soft) and frass (hard) usually distinguishable from each other but can be very similar in shape and colour. With finer sieves, the seeds can be separated from the frass but this is not essential for storage or propagation. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
91,950 (49.67 g)
41,450 (22.4 g)
20+4-May-2006DJD477
Kangaroo Island
8-Aug-2006100%-18°C
BGA8,300 (7.1 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 21
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-2017100%-18°C
BGA2,600 (2.22 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 23
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201785%-18°C
BGA4,500 (4.26 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 26C
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201765%-18°C
BGA19,300 (16.4 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 1A
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-2017100%-18°C
BGA5,000 (4.27 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 18
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201785%-18°C
BGA15,300 (12.52 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 13B
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201795%-18°C
BGA10,600 (9.05 g)210-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 14A
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201745%-18°C
BGA7,500 (9.01 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 27
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201790%-18°C
BGA19,700 (24.73 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 19A
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201780%-18°C
BGA9,700 (8.26 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 19A
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201790%-18°C
BGA6,000 (5.14 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 44A
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-2017100%-18°C
BGA48,300 (41.16 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 7A
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201775%-18°C
BGA100,000 (73.41 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 6A/B
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201785%-18°C
BGA3,600 (3.08 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 56
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201780%-18°C
BGA6,100 (5.23 g)10-Jun-2011J.Quarmby 9B
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201780%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.