Corymbia (Eucalyptus) citriodora

Height: 19 - 20 m

The Lemon-scented Gum seems to grow on most sites in Melbourne. It is tolerant of dry, sandy sites, seems to tolerate moist, high-clay-fraction locations, and grows rapidly both with and without water. Occasionally it may be troubled by lerp, but is not badly affected at any time. It is intolerant of frost when young, and trees less than 1m tall can be badly affected in northern and highland areas.

There are new selections of Lemon-scented Gum currently available, although performance with this tree may vary; this results from interbreeding between Lemon-scented Gum and the closely related Spotted Gum. Frequently trees with strongly-spotted trunks may grow in a seedling tray of Lemon-scented Gums, showing the obvious hybridisation between these two species. To assure best growth and true-to-type plants, Metropolitan Tree Growers are using seed from the CSIRO orchard, located in Castle Hill NSW.

The ‘Dwarf’ is a selected form of the Lemon-scented Gum that has been grafted at Humphris Nurseries to allow the clonal expression of its desirable attributes. Grafted trees are typically smaller than seedling grown specimens. This Dwarf is expected to grow to around 7 m high in the Melbourne area. It will have the same environmental tolerances as the species but can be used in locations where space is more constrained.