Salmon white gum (Eucalyptus lane-poolei)
This smallish tree is quite brightly coloured. Its leaves are a brighter green than those of most eucalypts. Its bark is smooth, pinkish-white through most of the year, salmon-pink in autumn, when the old bark is shed and the new revealed.
In form it is quite varied — usually spreading, but with some trees compact and others sparse and open. The tree often divides near its base, or sprouts new stems from its lignotuber, particularly after fire.
Salmon white gum grows in scattered places between Pinjarra and Cockleshell Gully. It has a limited occurrence in the Perth area, mostly on the eastern side of the coastal plain south of Armadale, but also in a few spots in the Darling Scarp.
© Text and photographs: Robert Powell