Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia - Edward Ellis Morris

White G.—
E. amygdalina, Labill.;
E. gomphocephala, De C. (Western Australia);
E. goniocalyx, F. v. M. ; E. haemastoma, Smith;
E. hemiphloia, F. v. M. (Sydney);
E. leucoxylon, F. v. M. (South Australia);
E. pauciflora, Sieb.;
E. populifolia, Hook. (Queensland);
E. radiata (New South Wales);
E. redunca, Schau. (Western Australia);
E. robusta, Schlecht. (South Australia);
E. saligna, Smith (New South Wales);
E. stellulata, Cunn.;
E. stuartiana, F. v. M. (Victoria);
E. viminalis, Labill.

White Swamp G.—
E. gunnii, Hook. (South Australia).

Yellow G.—
E. punctata, De C.

York G.—
E. foecunda, Schau. (Western Australia).

This list has been compiled by collating many authorities. But the following note on Eucalyptus amygdalina (from Maiden's `Useful Native Plants,' p. 429) will illustrate the difficulty of assigning the vernacular names with absolute accuracy to the multitudinous species of Eucalyptus—

"Eucalyptus amygdalina, Labill., Syn. E. fissilis, F. v. M.; E. radiata, Sieb.; E. elata, Dehn.; E. tenuiramis, Miq.; E. nitida, Hook, f.; E. longifolia, Lindl. ; E. Lindleyana, DC.; and perhaps E. Risdoni, Hook, f.; E. dives, Schauer.—This Eucalypt has even more vernacular names than botanical synonyms. It is one of the `Peppermint Trees' (and variously `Narrow-leaved Peppermint,' `Brown Peppermint,' `White Peppermint,' and sometimes `Dandenong Peppermint'), and `Mountain Ashes' of the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria, and also of Tasmania and Southern New South Wales. It is also called `Giant Gum' and `White Gum.' In Victoria it is one of the `Red Gums.' It is one of the New South Wales `Stringybarks,' and a `Manna Gum.' Because it is allied to, or associated with, `Stringybark,' it is also known by the name of `Messmate.' . . . A variety of this gum (E. radiata) is called in New South Wales `White Gum' or `River White Gum.' . . . A variety of E. amygdalina growing in the south coast district of New South Wales, goes by the name of `Ribbon Gum,' in allusion to the very thin, easily detachable, smooth bark. This is also E. radiata probably. A further New South Wales variety goes by the name of `Cut-tail' in the Braidwood district. The author has been unable to ascertain the meaning of this absurd designation. These varieties are, several of them, quite different in leaves, bark, and timber, and there is no species better than the present one to illustrate the danger in attempting to fit botanical names on Eucalypts when only the vernacular names are known."

Various other trees not of the genus Eucalyptus are also sometimes popularly called Gums, such as, for instance—

Broad-leaved Water Gum—
Tristania suavolens, Smith.

Orange G.—
Angophora lanceolata, Cave.

Water G.—
Callistemon lanceolatus, DeC.
Tristania laurina, R. Br.
T. neriifolia, R. Br.