Trees & Shrubs Weed profiles & Native alternatives
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I’M A WEED
Platypus Gum
Platypus Gum
Eucalyptus platypus
Mallee (multi-stemmed Eucalypt) growing to 10 m high. The canopy is dense and rounded and the leaves are elliptical to round. Bark is smooth and light brown, ageing to grey.
The elongated, flat fruit stalks (peduncles) about 3 cm long and 1 cm wide are distinctive. Buds are in clusters of up to seven, with long, conical caps. These open into greenish-yellow (or occasionally white, cream or red) flowers in spring and summer. Commonly planted for windbreaks.
Platypus Gum
Threat / Problem
• Can invade disturbed native vegetation near plantings. Susceptible to blowing over in high winds.
• Dense foliage and leaf litter restricts understorey growth.
Spread
• New plants grow from seed. Spread by wind.
Control
• Cut and swab or mechanical removal any time.
Platypus Gum
GROW ME INSTEAD
Ridge-fruited Yellow Mallee
Ridge-fruited Yellow Mallee
Eucalyptus incrassata
Multi-stemmed tree 4-8 m high with a smooth trunk. Adult leaves alternate, lance-shaped, green, glossy, thick, 0.6-1.2 cm by 1.5-3 cm on stalks 1-2 cm long. Buds in groups of up to 7 on short stalks, smooth to ribbed, 1.2-2.2 cm by 0.6-1 cm with a beaked cap, creamy white flowers. Fruits cup-shaped to cylindrical, more or less smooth to ribbed, 1-1.2 cm by 0.9-1 cm.
Flowers provide neactar and pollen for birds and native bees. Common throughout the mallee on limestone and sandy soils on Eyre Peninsula.
Ridge-fruited Yellow Mallee
OR GROW ME
Ridge-fruited Mallee
Ridge-fruited Mallee
Eucalyptus angulosa
Eucalyptus angulosa is similar to E. incrassata and was considered a subspecies until recently.
It is distinguished by its thicker leaves and large heavily ribbed fruit, and is restricted to deep sands in coastal areas on southern Eyre Peninsula.
Ridge-fruited Mallee
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