Manna gum

Eucalyptus viminalis, the manna gum or ribbon gum, is a tall evergreen tree in the family Myrtaceae native to southeastern Australia, occurring in Tasmania, Victoria, eastern New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and parts of southeastern South Australia and southern Queensland. Mature trees commonly reach 30-50 m in height and can exceed 90 m in favourable sites, with a long straight bole and an open spreading crown. The bark is smooth, white to cream or greyish, shedding in long ribbons and strips that often hang from the branches and litter the ground beneath — hence the common name ribbon gum. Juvenile leaves are sessile, opposite, narrowly lanceolate to linear, 4-12 cm long, and grey-green; adult leaves are alternate, narrowly lanceolate, 10-18 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, glossy green, with prominent intramarginal venation. White flowers are produced in axillary umbels of three buds, each operculum conical and shorter than the floral tube. Capsular fruits are hemispherical to obconical, 5-9 mm across, with prominent exserted valves. The trees exude a sweet sugary white exudate called manna from injured branches, traditionally collected and eaten as a treat by Aboriginal peoples and early European settlers.