Voting closed on Monday 24 March at 11:40 p.m.
Congratulations to Mountain Ash; regnans in excelsis. E. regnans reigns on high.
Snow Gum E. pauciflora won silver, and it was bronze for Ghost Gum C. aparrerinja. Honourable mentions go to River Red Gum E. camaldulensis an early leader, Lemon-scented Gum C. citriodora and Yellow Box E. melliodora.
The decisive moment of the vote in Australia’s favourite eucalypt occurred on Twitter about 24 hours before the close of voting. Euan Ritchie went head to head with Sarah Rees; it was Mountain Ash versus Ghost Gum. The sledging culminated in campaigns swinging into gear.
Votes for mountain ash and ghost gum, which had been fourth and third behind snow gum and river red gum, began to surge.
By midday on the last day of polling, mountain ash had taken the lead, but ghost gum was in pursuit, moving into second place by mid afternoon. River red gum was blown away by the cyclonic campaigns, but snow gum hung in there, moving back to second within hours of the polls closing.
But not even a last minute Eucalypt High Court ruling from Chief Justice Laura Pollock to amend the ballot could change the course of the election.
So how did #FavEuc come about? We ran the competition on a whim, after Peter Vesk helped Pia Lentini identify a specimen via Twitter.
From there, a round of nominations preceded the voting, which was open for a week. You can see the full results below.
A massive thank you to everyone who participated in the vote for Australia’s favourite eucalypt. We hope you enjoyed some of the great diversity of Australia’s eucalypts. One of my biggest thrills was chatting about eucalypt taxonomy, complete with scientific names of species and plant families, with Australia’s Communications Minister.
The nominations received prior to the poll officially opening:
A. costata
C. aparrerinja
C. citriodora
C. maculata
E. blakelyi
E. cadens
E. caesia
E. camaldulensis
E. cladocalyx
E. coolabah
E. cordata
E. dalrympleana
E. deanei
E. deglupta
E. delegatensis
E. diversicolor
E. diversifolia
E. ewartiana
E. globulus
E. gongylocarpa
E. haemastoma
E. kitsoniana
E. largiflorens
E. leucoxylon
E. macrocarpa
E. marginata
E. melliodora
E. microcarpa
E. niphophila (might get lumped with E. pauciflora)
E. ocrophloia
E. olida
E. pauciflora
E. perriniana
E. phoenicea
E. polyanthemos
E. pulchella
E. regnans
E. rubida
E. salmonophloia
E. salubris
E. sclerophylla (might get lumped with E. haemastoma)
E. sheathiana
E. similis
E. socialis
E. stellulata
E. strzeleckii
E. tenuiramis
E. tetraptera
E. tricarpa
E. vernicosa
E. verrucata
E. viminalis
E. viridis
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No E. smithii?
Sorry. Nominations were open for a few days. It missed out on being put on the ballot. I’ve even tried to add a species, but is seems PollDaddy might not allow additions once voting starts??
Where is Eucalyptus Scoparia?
It wasn’t nominated I’m afraid.
The list of eucalypts must be incomplete, perhaps for reasons that I haven’t noticed. I recall a Euc. Dives (little Honey), also Euc . Lehmannii, perhaps your list is one of short listed favourites.
The list of species was determined via a period of nomination. There are hundreds of eucalypts, so this list is a small fraction of them.
While I am all for celebrating Eucalypts, picking only one that reigns supreme!?! Hmmmm. Well, I do have some local favorites… Eucalyptus platypus, Eucalyptus pleurocarpha… simply amazing speices…. but I guess that’s what others have said about their local favourite species. However, there are more ‘common’ species, like Euc. camaldulensis… most widely distributed tree in Australia, which are well known. My vote had to go to Euc. citriodora…. lemon scented gum…. that has got to be the best representative Eucalypt in Australia. Magnificent!
Eucalyptus erythrocorys is my favourite, with its bright yellow flowers and red caps.
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I voted for E. microcarpa as it’s our local icon species. If you live in the Adelaide hills or foothills, you should too! There’s even a special day devoted to this species; and it has its own web site too: http://www.greyboxcommunity.org/
Mark Parnell MLC, Parliamentary leader of the Greens SA, Parliament House, Adelaide
That’s one of my personal favourites. Thanks for voting!
I wouldn’t vote for it – but NO OBLIQUA? The “first” eucalypt named and published!
I agree it is surprising that no one nominated it – it’s a mess, mate! #sorry
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One surprise omission from the list of nominations is E. saligna – Sydney blue gum. A fine tree.
Eucalyptus_camaldulensis is my favourite. Lining western riverbanks giving a shady sitting place where I spend time contemplating the meaning of life. They are homes and marvellous perching places for so many birds I find myself in very good company.
Got married under a magnificent specimen of E. Camaldulensis so it’s a perennial favourite, but for scent you can’t go past the freakish E. Olida.
Oops, sorry for the capital letters for species. You can tell I’m a mathematician, not a biologist!
Ian Rojo, via Facebook has voted for E. citriodora. He didn’t specify why, but I’ll guess on his behalf that it’s the scent of the leaves, and the beautiful smooth bark that wrinkles under the branches so they look like armpits.
I’d like to build a campaign in support of E. cadens (Warby Swamp Gum), the star of my honours project in ’96-’97. If anyone wants to co-author a morphometric analysis of its position amongst the swamp gums and comparative water logging tolerance in seedling phase, please step this way (b.y.o dust mask)
E. cladocalyx. Crazy well defended and has really amazing foliage which differs from other Eucs. And so many tragic stories of massive stock loss and even some captive native mammals too.
Chris Hallam: My #FavEuc has to be Eucalyptus perriniana- Spinning Gum – so weird, so unique https://twitter.com/nomascus_laos/status/444306679773949952
Peter Vesk: Angophora costata after rain in summer bright orange trunks! #FavEuc https://twitter.com/pveski/status/444290137493483521
Severe Tasmanian bias here but 1. vernicosa. The smallest and the cutest! 2. perinniana, for the rattle of detached leaves around the stems. (in the distant past I grew both of these and a couple of other favourites, cordata and pulchella.)
Jason Hamer: My top 3 favourite Eucalypts! http://jasonhamer.info/my-favourite-eucalypts/ #FavEuc Eucalyptus sheathiana, Eucalyptus salubris, Eucalyptus caesia. https://twitter.com/BinaryBotany/status/444283729402277888
Carol Probets: One more #FavEuc from me! In frost hollows of the high country you’ll find the sensuously colourful bark of E. stellulata – Black Sally! https://twitter.com/carolprobets/status/444237623708483584
Jo: How is it even possible to choose a #FavEuc when there are soooo many beautiful ones? Twist my arm: it’s E. sclerophylla, for this scribbler https://twitter.com/blue_cardamon/status/444238407401607169
Amy Davis: #FavEuc the flooded Gum – Eucalyptus grandis, especially when viewed at night, illuminated by car headlights on north coast mountain roads. https://twitter.com/Ivyadams/status/444250745651490816
AngryWagtails: Hard to pick #FavEuc in WA – too many & I don’t pick favs ;) Eucalyptus ewartiana with attractive minni-ritchi bark https://twitter.com/AngryWagtails/status/444253952930873344
AngryWagtails Gimlet woodlands are quite salubrious #FavEuc #wheatbelt #greatwesternwoodlands #goldfields https://twitter.com/AngryWagtails/status/444257853491007488
AngryWagtails: Another Western Australian #faveuc #karri E. diversicolor https://twitter.com/AngryWagtails/status/444262772776267776
Stefano Canessa: Ghost gum (here at dawn in Kings Canyon, NT bit.ly/1iGZItX) probably my #FavEuc @qaecology https://twitter.com/can_essay/status/444273365457436673
Peter Neish: My #FavEuc would probably be Eucalyptus viminalis or E. globulus #hard2choose https://twitter.com/peterneish/status/444275196917063680
Kylie Soanes: Red box is my #FavEuc. So lovely and twisty. https://twitter.com/kyliesoanes/status/444229752589537280
Carol Probets: My fave eucalypt? Yapunyah! E. ocrophloia of the Paroo floodplain. A tree of character & birds love it too. #FavEuc pic.twitter.com/TYUUHlat5Z https://twitter.com/carolprobets/status/444233227717197824
Ken Eastwood: So many #FavEuc trees to choose from:ghost gums, mountain ash, youngiana, but I think my fav is the blue gum, E. deanei. Tall,straight,beaut https://twitter.com/kensbigbackyard/status/444233397531975680
Carol Probets: Noticed a few #FavEuc nominations for Snow Gum E. pauciflora but what about E. niphophila, the iconic alpine form now a distinct species? https://twitter.com/carolprobets/status/444234430614237184
Mark Hamann: E.diversifolia – reminds me of a childhood spent exploring the coast. #faveuc https://twitter.com/turtlesatJCU/status/444215881652899840
Andrew Bengsen: E. similis for me. So many qualities admirable in a person (esp. unique, but not flashy). And reminds me of home https://twitter.com/RowdyBengsen/status/444215500386488320
David Watson: E. phoenicea-fruit shaped like Phoenician urn, bright orange flowers, crazy patterned bark endemic to Top end escarpments #faveuc https://twitter.com/D0CT0R_Dave/status/444203790170734592
Michael Whitehead: Angophora costata. Hometown nostalgia plus those crazy curves. Living sculptures. https://twitter.com/Mikey_Whitehead/status/444200572405940224
Tim Barlow: but geez, an old black box [Ed: E. largiflorens?] is a close #faveuc https://twitter.com/TimBarlow3/status/444080644809699328
Hugh Possingham: E. leucoxylon has everything, lots of nectar for birds and bees, smooth white bark, many subspecies #faveuc https://twitter.com/HugePossum/status/444164024415289346
Angophora costata. Lazy, crazy curves in every bough. The appealing salmon and grey bark has a slight sheen and is smooth and cool to the touch.
Simon Watson: pauciflora https://twitter.com/sjwatsonecology/status/444066154676371457
Chris Watson: gongylocarpa (Marble Gum) https://twitter.com/Birds_Central/status/444064283320545280
Dale Nimmo: Okay, my #FavEuc is the idealistic E. socialis https://twitter.com/DaleNimmo/status/444076308918595584
The Scrogster: #FavEuc Eucalyptus polyanthemus love the bluish green leaves. https://twitter.com/TheScrogster/status/444065669957419008
Kelly Hunt de Bie: I do love the silver subtlety of E. caesia #FavEuc https://twitter.com/kellyhuntdebie/status/444075933683564545
Anne Brophy: Eucalyptus perriniana is the #FavEuc because it is ‘the spinning gum’ David MacKay(artist) pic.twitter.com/ht93J6p3pO https://twitter.com/BrophyAnne/status/444195039451688960
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Hi all
Eucalyptus tenuiramis. Although known best to Tasmanians – E. tenuiramis is a Tasmanian endemic peppermint – imagine glistening white trunks on a rocky hillside, in the side-light of dawn or dusk, and dramatically pale blue foliage. Stands of E. tenuiramis are even more beautiful than stands of the related E. pulchella.
Steve
***********************
Steve Read (Dr)
Biologist and Forest Scientist
steve.read@aanet.com.au
0408 170915
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And from Euan Ritchie: salmonophloia, similis, aparrerinja or caesia https://twitter.com/EuanRitchie1/status/444063849201688576
From Ian Smith via Twitter: Corymbia citriodora, gotta love the post rain scent and bark. Ghost gum close second. https://twitter.com/EcologIan/status/444063560570650624