Quiz: Red gum

Bulletin of 9 October 2025

  1. Eucalyptus camaldulensis was first formally described as a species in 1832, and was named after the garden in which the type specimen grew. Where was the garden?
    AnswerNaples, Italy (L'Hortus Camaldulensis di Napoli).
  2. Australia’s largest remnant stand of river red gum is the 65,000ha Barma-Millewa Forest on the Victorian-NSW border. Approximately how long ago did this forest form? (a) 25,000 years (b) 250,000 years (c) 2.5 million years (d) 25 million years.
    Answer(a) 25,000 years.
  3. ‘I Was Only 19’, released in 1983, was a chart-topping single for the Australian folk band Redgum. What was the band’s second highest charting single?
    Answer‘I’ve Been to Bali Too’ (1984).
  4. Eucalyptus camaldulensis has several sub-species, and occurs naturally in all States and Territories except one. Which one?
    AnswerTasmania.
  5. What famous, heritage-listed red gum in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens was twice ringbarked by vandals, in 2010 and again in 2013, and has subsequently died?
    AnswerThe Separation Tree (which marked the site where Victorians gathered in 1850 to celebrate the separation of their colony from NSW).

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