Eucalyptus sideroxylon

Red iron bark

Family: Myrtaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Red iron bark is a naturalized shrub found in coastal central California regions including the Central Coast, southern coastal ranges, southern California, northern Channel Islands, and western Transverse Ranges at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from December to February, this plant produces pink to red (occasionally white) flowers in small umbels of 5 to 7 blossoms. Growing as a multi-stemmed shrub up to 25 meters tall with a distinctive dark brown to nearly black bark that is deeply furrowed and hard, it develops a robust and textural appearance. Its leaves are dull gray-green, lanceolate, measuring 6 to 14 centimeters long and 1 to 2 centimeters wide, creating a dense, muted foliage canopy. The fruit is approximately 1 centimeter long, ovoid in shape with valves that remain enclosed within the flower structure.

Habitat: Uncommon. Coastal, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Dec-Feb

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: CCo, SCoRO, SCo, n ChI, WTR

California counties: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Orange, Contra Costa, San Diego, Butte, San Luis Obispo, Sacramento, Ventura, Santa Clara, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.