''Angophora robur'', commonly known as the sandstone rough-barked apple or the broad-leaved sandstone apple, is a species of small tree that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to a small area in New South Wales. It has rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped to egg-shaped or oblong adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white or creamy white flowers and cup-shaped to bell-shaped fruit.

Description

''Angophora robur'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...

. It has rough, fibrous, greyish bark on the trunk and branches, Young plants and

coppice Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...

regrowth have

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

leaves that are lance-shaped to oblong, long and wide with a stem-clasping base and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are also arranged in opposite pairs, lance-shaped to egg-shaped or oblong, paler on the lower surface, long, wide and sessile. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets on a branched peduncle long, each branch of the peduncle with three or seven buds on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

long. Mature buds are globe-shaped, long and long with a ribbed

floral cup In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...

and white or creamy white

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s with a green keel. Flowering has been observed in December and the fruit is a cup-shaped to bell-shaped capsule long, wide and longitudinally ribbed with the valves enclosed in the fruit.

Taxonomy and naming

''Angophora robur'' was first formally described in 1990 by

Lawrie Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic botany, botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Garden ...

and Ken Hill in the journal '' Telopea'' from specimens they collected near Kremnos Creek on the

Glenreagh Glenreagh is a small town in the Clarence Valley in the Northern Rivers region of north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, Glenreagh had a population of 900 people. It is on the North Coast railway line, completed to Gl ...

- Grafton Road in 1984. Genetic analysis shows it to be closely related to smudgee (''

Angophora woodsiana ''Angophora woodsiana'', commonly known as smudgee, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three ...

'').

Distribution and habitat

Sandstone rough-barked apple has a limited distribution near the coast of northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

along a sandstone belt running from near Glenreagh, north-west of

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

to Coaldale north-west of Grafton. It grows in woodland on shallow sandstone soils.

Conservation status

This eucalypt is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

'' and the New South Wales Government ''

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 The ''Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act)'' was enacted by the Parliament of New South Wales in 1995 to protect threatened species, populations and ecological communities in NSW. In 2016 it was replaced by the '' Biodiversity Co ...

''. The main threats to the species are clearing for agriculture, too-frequent fires, widening of roads and timber harvesting.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7188651 robur Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Plants described in 1990