Eucalyptus moluccana

Eucalyptus moluccana, commonly known as grey box, is a medium to large evergreen tree in the family Myrtaceae endemic to coastal and subcoastal eastern Australia from southern New South Wales to north-eastern Queensland. Mature trees reach 20 to 30 metres tall with a straight bole and a broad, spreading crown. The bark is persistent on the trunk and larger branches, grey, finely fibrous and tessellated, shed in small flakes to expose a smoother surface beneath; smaller branches are smooth and white. Juvenile leaves are opposite, ovate to broadly lanceolate, dull grey-green; adult leaves are alternate, petiolate, lanceolate, 8 to 17 centimetres long and 1.5 to 3 centimetres wide, glossy green on both surfaces with conspicuous oil glands. White flowers are borne in compound axillary panicles of seven-flowered umbels; the operculum is conical and shorter than the hypanthium. Fruits are small woody, hemispherical to cup-shaped capsules 3 to 5 millimetres across with enclosed valves. The species grows on heavy clay soils in open dry sclerophyll forest, often associated with ironbarks.