Gum Trees
A gum tree is the common name for the eucalyptus
tree. Of all the Australian trees, the various gum trees outnumber them.
Koalas like to eat the leaves of the gum tree, Eucalypts also provide a
valuable habitat for many Australian parrot species.
The aim of this site is to help you identify the most common. Australia boasts between 700 and 800 eucalypt species, and is well known for them around the world. But how can you tell which one is which? The aim of this site is to help you identify the more common ones.
What can be more Australian than this great song below, which John Williamson sang at Steve Irwin's memorial service.
Home among the gum trees
I've been around the world a couple of times, or
maybe more,
I've seen the sights, I've had delights on ev'ery
foreign shore,
But when my friends all ask me the place that
I adore,
I tell them right away.
Give me a home among the gum trees
With lots of plum trees, a sheep or two, a
kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back, verandah out the
front
And an old rocking chair.
You can see me in the kitchen cooking up a roast,
Or vegemite on toast, just you and me, a cup of
tea.
Later on, we'll settle down and mull up on the
porch
And watch the possums play.
Give me a home among the gum trees.
With lots of plum trees, a sheep or two, a
kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back, verandah out the
front
And an old rocking chair.
There's a Safeway on the corner and a Woolworths
down the street,
A New World's just been opened where they regulate
the heat,
But I'd trade them all tomorrow for the simple
bush retreat
Where the kookaburras call.
Give me a home among the gum trees.
With lots of plum trees, a sheep or two, a
kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back, verandah out the
front
And an old rocking chair.
Some people like their houses with fences all around,
Others live in mansions, and some beneath the
ground,
But me, I like the bush, you know, with rabbits
running round
And a pumpkin vine out the back.
Give me a home among the gum trees.
With lots of plum trees, a sheep or two, a
kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back, verandah out the
front
And an old rocking chair.