Bees & Bugs, Flowers

Gum tree blossom (Corymbia calophylla)

Photos from my walk this morning. The little gum tree near our side yard has just started its flowering with the prettiest gum blossom I’ve ever seen. The colour is so subtle, shades of pink and yellow with the white. I’ve used part of the first photo in my new header.

Gum tree blossom, Nokia Lumia 520, auto, cropped

You can see how the blossom unfurls from the gumnuts, after pushing off the cap.

Nokia Lumia, 5MP, auto, cropped

This is what the empty gum nuts will look in future … you wouldn’t think it was the same tree.  Some type of bug infestation or disease is causing blistered leaves.

Spider shell & silk, Jan 2015 (Nokia Lumia, 5MP, auto)

Another? The bee looks to be hanging on tight. The wind was blowing the blossom about. It’s cloudy again today, maybe will reach 25-27C.

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If you are trying to recall the old header. It was something like this. 😀
cropped-gum-red-blossom5.jpg

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36 thoughts on “Gum tree blossom (Corymbia calophylla)”

    • Thank you, Susan. The tree has pink bits in the veins of the leaves and the wood of the new growth, and that merest blush at the base of the blossom where it comes out of the pod. Having this phone camera has opened my eyes to the beauty around me! 🙂

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  2. Sue says:

    Very delicate looking blossom, love the balance with the Bee. Often wonder why bugs were invented, I can’t see that they do anything positive only damage.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Oh bugs? For a second there, Sue, I thought you meant the bees! Yes, something is really going to town on the leaves, it’s been like it as long as I can remember.

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      • Sue says:

        It was sent from from my mobile phone. I think it must show up as junk. How you find such unusual photo’s has got me beat. Think you and nature and working hand in glove to give us such good pics.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Not in junk this time Sue – it was because it had your name instead of anonymous. I always have to approve the first post from new commentators.

          Thanks for your lovely comments, I’m pleased you love my photos.

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    • Thanks for liking my header, Joanne. Calling it a ‘gum’ tree doesn’t give a very precise description. We say gum trees, meaning eucalyptus trees, and even that is vague as (some of us) lump them all in together. I think this one belongs to the relatively new Corymbia genus. The birds and bees will love it when it’s in full bloom. Common name is flowering gum.

      Wikipedia says:
      “Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera found across Australasia: Eucalyptus, Corymbia, Angophora, Stockwellia, Allosyncarpia, Eucalyptopsis and Arillastrum.”
      🙂

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      • That’s even more informative … gum and eucalyptus are the same.
        I am hopelessly incompetent with plant life. I don’t even know most of the trees in my own neighbourhood.

        I thought that someone would have created an app by now that would identify a plant if you pointed your device at it.
        Any app I have found so far, requires you to image a leaf and send it to an email address and “they will get back to you”.

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        • I usually use google images, and search for the leaf or flower from the description I put in as keywords. Most of the time it’s too hard though, and I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

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