05-Nov-2020 Theme: 'Red gum'

(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?

Answer: Naples, 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?

Answer: Tasmania.

(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?

Answer: The Separation Tree (which marked the site where Victorians gathered in 1850 to celebrate the separation of their colony from NSW).

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