Corymbia ptychocarpa, commonly known as swamp bloodwood or spring bloodwood,[2] is a species of tree that is endemic to northwestern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and branches, broadly lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy yellow, pink or red flowers, and barrel-shaped, ribbed fruit.
Description
Corymbia ptychocarpa is a tree that typically grows to a height of 4.5 to 20 metres (15 to 66 ft) and has thick, rough, tessellated, brownish bark on the trunk and branches. It has the form of a crooked tree that tends to flop when young and often has drooping branches. Young plants and coppice regrowth have oblong to round or elliptical, later egg-shaped leaves that are 60–300 mm (2.4–11.8 in) long, 70–130 mm (2.8–5.1 in) wide and petiolate. Adult leaves are leathery, paler on the lower surface, broadly lance-shaped, 110–460 mm (4.3–18.1 in) long and 27–130 mm (1.1–5.1 in) wide, tapering to a petiole 15–40 mm (0.6–1.6 in) long. The midrib is pale yellow in contrast to the green lamina and the lateral veins are parallel to each other. The flowers are borne on the ends of branchlets on a branched peduncle 10–60 mm (0.4–2.4 in) long, each branch of the peduncle with seven buds on pedicels 10–34 mm (0.4–1.3 in) long. Mature buds are oval to pear-shaped, 13–24 mm (0.51–0.94 in) long and 11–18 mm (0.43–0.71 in) wide with a rounded to blunt-conical operculum. Flowering occurs from February to May and the flowers are creamy yellow, pink or red. The fruit is a woody, barrel-shaped capsule 32–55 mm (1.3–2.2 in) long and 26–45 mm (1.0–1.8 in) wide with about eight sharp ribs on the sides and the valves enclosed in the fruit.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
In the same paper, Hill and Johnson described two subspecies and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
Corymbia ptychocarpa subsp. aptycha K.D.Hill & L.A.S.Johnson[11] that differs from the autonym in having the flower buds and fruit not or only indistinctly ribbed.[5]
^Chippendale, George M. "Eucalyptus ptychocarpa". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
