Eucalyptus albens (White Box)

This recording was made by Kim V. Goldsmith in the early morning of an autumn day in April 2026. It was recorded using a Zoom H3 and ecoutic microphone, along with atmospheric recordings of birdsong and wind using an iPhone (RØDE Reporter app). It was an overcast morning with gusty winds that vibrated through the tree into the soil below. The tree stands beside a local, rural access road on the outskirts of the regional city of Dubbo in Central West New South Wales, Australia. It’s one of several White Box trees in an isolated copse of trees of this species on the road.

The Wiradjuri word for the tree is ‘birri’.

Photos of the White Box tree beside the road, its canopy overlapping with the tree beside it, as well as detail of the bark. Images: Kim V. Goldsmith

White Box (Eucalyptus albens) is a common tree of the western slopes and plains of New South Wales and parts of Queensland and Victoria, Australia. It has rough, fibrous bark on the base of its trunk and smooth, white bark above. It grows to about 15-25 metres, with a straight trunk for about half its total height and a branched, spreading crown.

The leaves are lance-shaped, and groups of seven spindle-shaped flower buds are arranged in leaf axils or on the ends of the branches. It flowers between August and February, and the flowers are white. The fruit is barrel-shaped to urn-shaped.

It’s related to two types of Grey Box. The Wiradjuri word for the tree is birri.

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