Angophora costata

One of the more common trees found in Katandra is the Sydney Red Gum, Angophora costata. Also known as Smooth-barked Apple, it is endemic to Eastern Australia and is easily identified by the striking salmon-pink colour of the trunk revealed after it sheds its older greying bark in the later spring months. Reaching heights of up to 30 metres, older specimens take on a wonderfully gnarled appearance as the crooked and twisted branches spread out. A. costata is the only smooth-barked member of the Angophora genus which contains 13 species in total. Angophora, Corymbia and Eucalyptus are the three main genera in the Eucalypteae tribe of the Myrtaceae family. The smooth-barked members of this Eucalypteae tribe are often referred to as “gum trees” because of the dark red kino (“gum”) that can be seen exuding from breaks in the bark. Kino is actually not a true gum as it is not soluble in water.

Like some of the other smooth-barked eucalypts, A. costata usually develops some dimple-like depressions in the bark on the trunk and larger branches. Some specimens can be more dimpled than others, as can be seen in the picture below.