Gum Tree Eucalyptus erythrocorys

Late summer and autumn is when Illyarrie earns its keep. The buds are capped in bright scarlet, and when that cap lifts away it releases a large tuft of yellow stamens, an unusual colour pairing among the gums. Heavy ribbed gumnuts follow and hang on for months. The tree itself stays small by eucalypt standards, often multi stemmed and inclined to lean, with smooth pale bark over a short trunk. It is planted as a flowering feature, and in rows as a low informal shelter planting, on dry alkaline ground well outside its Western Australian range.

Alkaline ground, and wind on brittle wood

This is a limestone country plant. It handles alkaline ground, coastal exposure and long dry summers, and it is considerably happier in Perth, coastal South Australia, Adelaide and the drier settled districts than it is through a humid coastal summer on the east coast. Full sun, and drainage that is genuinely sharp. On clay, mound the bed or plant on a slope. Cold is the limit at the other end. It will shrug off the odd light frost, but a hard tableland winter cuts young plants back and repeated frosts kill them, so this is not a species for the cold inland. It asks for very little water once established and should not be fed richly, because soft growth on this plant is a liability. Salt wind does not trouble it, and neither does reflected heat off paving or limestone walls, so a hot western aspect is fair game.

Wind is what breaks it. The wood is brittle, and an unformed multi stemmed tree with several codominant leaders and included bark tears itself apart in the first serious blow, usually taking half the crown with it. Formative pruning is not optional here. Choose one or two leaders while the plant is young, shorten the competition rather than letting it thicken, and keep the tree low and stocky rather than encouraging it upward. Sited on an exposed corner with no early training, it will not last.

Illyarrie beside the other western flowering gums

Its nearest match in this range is fuchsia gum, the other small Western Australian flowering species. Fuchsia gum is grown for pendulous red winged buds carried through the warmer months, and it is the neater, more upright plant. Illyarrie is bolder, with much larger flowers in scarlet and yellow, and a looser, leaning habit that needs managing. For a low screen rather than a feature, long flowered marlock does that job instead, holding a dense skirt of foliage to the ground where Illyarrie is open and sculptural. The gumnuts are another point of difference. Illyarrie carries large, heavily ribbed fruit that stay on the tree for months and cut well, which fuchsia gum does not match. Pick Illyarrie when you want the flower to be the point of the planting.

Training a low, stocky crown

Do the structural pruning in the first few years, working in late winter or immediately after the nuts have been cut for the vase. Reduce competing leaders, keep the crown compact, and remove any narrow forks with bark trapped in them while the branches are still small. Established trees need only tidying. Feed sparingly or not at all. This is a species from poor alkaline soils, and phosphorus rich fertiliser does it no favours, so a light native blend in spring is the most it needs. Mulch with gravel or coarse bark and keep water off the trunk. Browse the rest of the range in gum trees.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 4 sizes, from 200mm up to 90L, priced from $29.95 to $479.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to Australian native trees for shade.