Corymbia calophylla

Scientific name

Corymbia calophylla

Common name

Marri or red gum

Plant description

This beautiful tree can grow to 50 metres and live for 300 years. The bark is grey-brown with rough mosaic-like blocks and the large woody, ‘honkey nut’ fruits remind many of May Gibbs’Gumnut Baby stories. The species name calophylla is Greek for ‘beautiful leaf’. The tree is very important for many birds and insects e.g. cockatoos, ring-neck parrots and native bees. Research collected at the WA Museum records observations of 16 species of native bee visiting marri flowers.

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Flower colour

Large clusters of white, creamy-white or rarely pink

Flowering months

December to April