Thanks! Looked them up, and they are among the large variety of Eucalyptus species. The plants were more like large, dense shrubs than the trees we're familiar with in CA.
The CA eucalypti I've seen over the years on visits that way are huge, no natural bugs and pests to munch and spoil them. Here we often have big bushfires that decimate the biggest or distort their growth somewhat. Here's one that is a short walk from my house.
Thanks for your comments, and I see that the flowering gums are in the Eucalyptus family. But #4 with the Jay in the non-flowering bush with it's branches covered with little empty cups is a bottle-brush also?
Thanks Guy. My daughter was living in Oakland in '91, across the Bay from SF, when a huge fire broke out in the Oakland Hills muy posh neighborhood N of the city, only several miles from where she lived. She called us and said Eucalyptus trees were literally exploding as they reached a critical temperature due to the oils in the leaves, and there were groves of them separating the large homesites. At least 25 deaths...The CA eucalypti I've seen over the years on visits that way are huge, no natural bugs and pests to munch and spoil them. Here we often have big bushfires that decimate the biggest or distort their growth somewhat. Here's one that is a short walk from my house.
Taken just after our 2002 bushfire incident in our area. It will live on as two separate trunks and a thin skin around the burnt insides. Tree probably a few hundred years old and possibly seen many fires in that time.
At home here in Oz we have a few different eucalyptus types, ranging from scrubby bush like things to forest monsters. https://www.csiro.au/en/research/plants/native/Identifying-eucalypts-made-easy where they say there's about 934 species.
More info and some blossom examples at https://leafyplace.com/eucalyptus-tree/
The best looking flowers are from the West Australian varieties. https://www.eucalyptsofwa.com.au/
They generally handle fires well, and recovery involves buds popping out all over the trunk and any remaining live branches, so they look all furry for a while until they sort their shape out again.
Hi Pete #4 photo is a bottle brush they usually flower and afterwards leave these seed pods.
Yes, that looks like typical bottle-brush behaviour. https://www.anbg.gov.au/callistemon/
They can be a pest tree because they can spread so readily and are extremely dangerous in fires, even in dry times as big trees may drop a heavy branch without warning. Innocent bystanders and campers have been killed.
Ah, we Aussies see the flowers all the time, so no need to photograph them.
Lovely - they outta have these in the Arboretum if they don't already! I see that it's in the Proteaceae family. The Monterey climate has drought for six or more months - nada but fog drip in the summers, and rain should be coming in a month or two. My wife has a large garden, mainly with drought-tolerant Aussie and other plants with several Proteas and Gravelia species, as well as succulents, and some fruits.Ah, we Aussies see the flowers all the time, so no need to photograph them.
Many are quite small and really need careful macro work, otherwise just a bunch of colour on a usually straggly bush, so don't often look that good as a photo.
Hey, a local favourite is the Waratah, rare now because people illegally pick them, so no more seeds to make new bushes after the next bushfire.
They reportedly were like weeds in my area, they were everywhere, but as day-trippers to the area came, probably starting about the 1920's, the local kids would pick them and other bush flowers and sell to the tourists to take back home to the city.
Just down the road about 10 houses away is a great lookout spot over the valley and last few years due to better rain, some Waratahs have popped up. They don't last long, either some thief gets them or they get sprayed with blue dye by the park rangers to deter pickers. The hope is that some will stay and drop seed.
Here's one from last year...
That flower is about as big as a fist, so they really stand out in the bush. https://lawn.com.au/waratah-flower/
Oooh, a knuckle-rapper, aye?!
Aussie plants developed with lousy phosphorus deficient soils. Millions of years of erosion and lack of rain most times meant low quality soil. Need care with fertilizing as general garden quality fertilizers will usually kill them.
That looks pretty good.The Monterey climate has drought for six or more months - nada but fog drip in the summers, and rain should be coming in a month or two. My wife has a large garden, mainly with drought-tolerant Aussie and other plants with several Proteas and Gravelia species, as well as succulents, and some fruits.
Upper level garden, early spring. Gravelias in front cut back. Proteas upper right.
In Oz we call a lot of trees "gum trees" and the mix may include Eucalyptus, Angophora, Corymbia as above plus others. My street trees are "water gums" Tristaniopsis Laurina. I planted those because they can withstand severe hacking and mutilation of tops or roots.
If you want Aussie bush flowers, check out my site. I live near the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park north of Sydney. These were all taken just a few kms from where I live but are just a microcosm of the diversity across the country. All taken with 4/3 or m4/3 gear, except maybe one or two very early ones.
