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What is this tree?. I though it was a willow of some kind? but cant find a definitive answer.
It has dark cracked bark, long drooping willow like leaves. The stems are red. There is a red vein running through the leaves.
This image taken from google earth on dick burton road, cape town. There are a good number of these lining the road.
Looks like a Eucalyptus to me. Perhaps Eucalyptus goniocalyx. Do the leaves have that eucalyptus smell (mentholy, medicinal smell)?
After viewing the full-sized image of the leaves, I question my initial answer of Podocarpus, (Poducarpus leaves are hairless).
I now believe this to be a species of Callistemon. Try Callistemon linearifolius, Callistemon phoeniceus or Callistemon rigidus. It could be one of many species or related trees such as Melaleuca.
The telltale flowers of the Callistemon would be a dead giveaway. Any chance you've seen any flowers since your original post?
Callistemon viminalis, weeping bottlebrush.
The bark matches, and it is a commonly planted (invasive) tree in South Africa.
Moved to genus Melaleuca in 2012, but searching using Callistemon gives more results.
I will see if I can find a suitable picture.
Salix arbusculoides willow with red stems
I’m suggesting a melaleuca from the Myrtle family...
Melaleuca leucadendra
From Wikipedia... “commonly known as weeping paperbark, long-leaved paperbark or white paperbark”.
