A north Queensland native: Corymbia torelliana - the Cadaghi Gum.

This north Queensland tree – Corymbia torelliana – is a favourite of mine. We usually call it the Cadaghi Gum but sometimes it’s referred to as the Cadaga.

It’s a eucalyptus … a member of the Myrtaceae family. It is native to the Atherton Tablelands area, which is mostly a rainforest area located around 300 kilometres north of my city.  The cadaghi is one of the few eucalypts that is at home in the tropical rainforest.  You will not see many eucalypts in a rainforest!!


I am lucky enough to have two old cadaghis growing on my property and they're both more than 30 feet high now.  You can see part of their trunks to the right of the photo below.

One of the features of this tree is that it has broad leaves and quite a dense canopy which creates a lot of shade. My cadaghis are growing in a section of garden beside the hill driveway and right next to my courtyard garden.  The shade created by these tall trees helps to keep my courtyard garden cool for most of the hot summer months.

It is a welcome relief to get home on a hot, muggy summer’s day after work … hop out of the car at the top of the hill driveway … walk down the driveway under the canopy of these trees and instantly feel cooler!!

The feature I do love more though is it’s fabulous trunk. It has grey scaly bark at the base all year round...

but as you move up the trunk you will find dull grey-brown bark.
Then once every year it will shed this bark ...

 ...to reveal a fabulous smooth green trunk.

When it flowers, it gets masses of scented cream balls all in clusters at the end of the branches.

Here you can see masses of flower buds and flowers.

My Cadaghis flower from the end of spring to the beginning of summer and attracts loads and loads of bees.

When the flowers fall, the small fruit or gumnut is left.

Now, just one last look at the fabulous colours under the peeling bark ... so beautiful!