This booklet covers 37 eucalypt species found in Brisbane’s bushland reserves. There is one naturalised eucalypt (Cadaghi, Corymbia torelliana) and 36 local species. Rather encouragingly, the introduction promises that most eucalypts can be identified at a glance once the eye is trained.
The introduction gives an overview of the eucalypts of the Brisbane Region, their distribution and habitat types. Importantly, Aboriginal knowledge of eucalypts is acknowledged, and names of eucalypts are provided in local language.
Unlike other eucalypt ID keys, the ACE Guide uses a combination of bark texture and leaf colour (discolorous or concolorous when comparing the upper and lower sides of leaves) to initially group and identify species. Each species is given a page of life-sized high-resolution colour photos of adult and juvenile leaves, buds, fruit (gumnuts) and bark textures.
Alphabetical ordering makes it easy to quickly flick through the book to find a species, and the highly visual photographic layout, with succinct descriptions, makes it easy to judge the size, scale and detail of eucalypt features. On the flip side, eucalypts that you may mentally group together (e.g ironbarks or stringybarks) are not side-by-side for comparison. So, for some, there may be some adjustment to using the booklet, but one that is straight forward to follow.
Lastly, this lightweight booklet is a handy size (like a tall pamphlet) to take into the field. It has a map and quick-reference list to help you find particular species in Brisbane’s bushland reserves.
The author is a botanist at the University of Queensland and the Queensland Herbarium with a broad experience researching the flora and vegetation of Australia.
Review by Amanda Maggs
Land for Wildlife Officer
Brisbane City Council
Forward Bank Acc details to enable $20 payment for ACE Guide To Eucalypts Brisbane.
Please visit… http://www.aceguidetoeucalypts.com