PlantSnap Photos of the Week 2020

Eucalyptus deglupta -- rainbow eucalyptus tree

This plant is a photo of a plant called Eucalyptus deglupta — rainbow eucalyptus tree.

Eucalyptus deglupta is a fast-growing tree that typically reaches a height of 60–75 m (197–246 ft) with the trunk up to 240 cm (94 in) in diameter and with buttresses up to 4 m (13 ft) high. It has smooth, orange-tinted bark that sheds in strips, revealing streaks of pale green, red, orange, grey, and purplish brown.

The branchlets are roughly square in cross section, often with narrow wings on the corners. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, mostly 75–150 mm (3–6 in) long and 50–75 mm (2–3 in) wide on a short petiole.

The flower buds are arranged in a branching inflorescence in leaf axils, or on the end of branchlets, each branch with groups of seven buds, the individual buds on a pedicel about 5 mm long.

Mature buds are pale green or cream-colored, roughly spherical in shape and 2–5 mm in diameter with a hemispherical operculum with a small point on the top.

Flowering time depends on location, and the stamens that give the flowers their color are white and pale yellow.

The fruit is a woody, brown, hemispherical capsule about 3–5 mm  long and wide, with three or four valves extending beyond the rim of the fruit. Each cell of the fruit contains between three and twelve minute brown seeds, each with a small wing.

Eucalyptus deglupta is a species of tall tree, commonly known as the rainbow eucalyptus, Mindanao gum, or rainbow gum that is native to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It is the only Eucalyptus species that usually lives in rainforest, with a natural range that extends into the northern hemisphere and is one of only four eucalypt species out of more than seven hundred that do not occur in Australia. It is characterized by multi-colored bark.

The rainbow eucalyptus grows in lowland and lower montane rainforest from sea level to altitudes of up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft). It is native to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines, but has been widely planted in many other countries.

This PlantSnap Photos of the Week image gallery contains images captured by PlantSnappers from all around the world.

Each of these images have been chosen in the past as the PlantSnap Photo of the Week.

Each week, the new PlantSnap Photo of the Week will be added to this gallery.