Angophora floribunda

Angophora floribunda is a large, wide, spreading tree growing to a height of 30 m (100 ft). The trunk is often gnarled and crooked with fibrous grey bark. Like all members of the genus Angophora, the dull to glossy green leaves are arranged oppositely along the stem. 5.5 to 15 cm (2.2–6 in) long and 1–5 cm (0.4–2 in) wide. They are lanceolate to ovate and attached to the stems by 0.6–1.5 cm (0.2–0.6 in) long petioles. The leaves in the western parts of the range are narrower than those in more coastal regions. ==Taxonomy==

The rough-barked apple was described by James Edward Smith in 1797 as Metrosideros floribunda, having been collected by Surgeon-General of New South Wales, John White in 1794. It was growing from seed in Empress Josephine's arboretum at Malmaison by 1804, when Étienne Pierre Ventenat catalogued it in his Jardin de la Malmaison. The species name is derived from the Latin floribunda 'abundant flowers'. Robert Sweet gave it its current name in 1830. Common names include rough-barked apple, apple box, rusty gum, gum myrtle and Boondah. This tree hybridises with the broad-leaved apple (Angophora subvelutina). Genetic analysis suggests the two might be a single species, despite their different morphology. Hybridization is present in some populations where both taxa occur but not others. The Charmhaven apple (Angophora inopina) from the vicinity of Wyee on the Central Coast of New South Wales is closely related and may be a dwarf form of A. floribunda. ==Distribution and habitat==

The range is across eastern Australia, from Rolleston and Roma in central Queensland though eastern and central New South Wales and into eastern Victoria, where it is found at Mallacoota. It is found on alluvial soils, generally on shale or basalt soils. In open forest, it is associated with such trees as swamp she-oak (Casuarina glauca), white stringybark (Eucalyptus globoidea), blackbutt (E. pilularis), Blakelys red gum (E. blakelyi), forest red gum (E. tereticornis), brittle gum (E. mannifera), forest she-oak (Allocasuarina torulosa), grey gum (E. punctata), and broad-leaved white mahogany (E. umbra). In wetter forest, it grows alongside Sydney blue gum (E. saligna) and in closed forest alongside lillypilly (Syzygium smithii), cheese tree (Glochidion ferdinandi), Australian white birch (Schizomeria ovata) and sandpaper fig (Ficus coronata) and under emergent specimens of bangalay (E. botryoides), grey ironbark (E. paniculata) and turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera). ==Ecology==

The rough-barked apple regenerates by regrowing from epicormic buds after bushfire. Trees live for more than a hundred years. The grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) and little red flying fox (P. scapulatus) eat the flowers, and the white-plumed honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata) forages among the flowers. The longhorn beetle species Paroplites australis and Agrianome spinicollis have been recorded from the rough-barked apple. Angophora floribunda has been recorded as a host for several mistletoe species: Amyema bifurcata, A. miquelii, A. pendula, Dendrophthoe curvata, D. glabrescens, D. vitellina, Muellerina celastroides and M. eucalyptoides. Female scarlet myzomelas (Myzomela sanguinolenta) have been observed tearing off bark to use in building their nests. ==Cultivation==

This is a large plant generally unsuitable for any but the largest gardens. ==Gallery==