Eucalyptus camaldulensis (River Red Gum)

Wiradjuri: biyal, yarra, murungal

This recording was made in early spring in Wiradjuri Country, by Will Rodgers at Yabtree West, on the banks of the Marrambidya (Murrumbidgee River) near Mundarlo, New South Wales, Australia on 23 September 2024, during an Earth Canvas/Wagga Wagga Art Gallery residency with the artist collective Hopeful Disruptions. River Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) are astonishing beings. They grow to immense sizes and can live for many hundreds of years. There were numerous River Red Gums in the paddock I was camped in, but one really spoke to me. Wiradjuri elder Uncle James Ingram who spoke to us about Country when we first arrived, identified it as a tree of cultural significance and pointed out the oval shaped scar on its trunk where bark had been removed to make a canoe. Botanists who had visited the tree in the past had estimated its age at between 400 and 800 years old. One of the immense branches of this tree reached right to the ground and touched the earth before spreading out laterally again. Where it touched the ground there was a crack in the wood, right through the bark into the inner heartwood. I placed my geophone inside this crack and recorded the sounds of the movement of this giant as it swayed in the wind. This is a longform recording, totally unedited from parallel dual sources – LOM Geofón (geophone) and a Zoom XYH-6 microphone capsule using a Zoom H6 recorder – recording both the ambient environmental sounds and the sounds of the tree moving in the wind through vibrations in the branch. SEE ADDITIONAL NOTES BELOW

Image: Will Rodgers

Eucalyptus camaldulensis, commonly known as the River Red Gum, is a significant tree species that typically attains a height of 20 metres, though it can sometimes reach up to 45 metres. The tree is identified by its smooth bark, which is generally white or cream-coloured and often features patches of yellow, pink, or brown. Near the base of the trunk, there are frequently loose, rough slabs of bark. The foliage of the River Red Gum progresses from small lance-shaped juvenile leaves to larger lance shaped adult leaves coloured a dull grey green. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven, nine, or occasionally eleven. Flowering primarily occurs in summer, producing white flowers, and the plant’s flowers bloom for a long time throughout the year. It is a culturally important tree for indigenous peoples with many parts of the tree used including the wood, bark, leaves and sap. Canoes were made from the outer bark layer and shields from the harder wood just under the bark.

Atlas of Living Australia

Additional recording information

This is a list of species, elements and anthropogenic sounds positively identified that contribute their voices to this piece.

Birds:
Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus)
Grey Shrike Thrush (Colluricincla harmonica)
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
Little Friarbird (Philemon citreogularis)
Yellow-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa)
Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)
Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys)
Western Gerygone (Gerygone fusca)
Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides)

Elements:
Red River Gum, wind and earth in conversation
Background murmur of shallows of Marrambidya

Will Rodgers online