''Corymbia aparrerinja'', commonly known as ghost gum, is a species of 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 ...

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to cylindrical fruit.

Description

''Corymbia aparrerinja'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of , often much less, 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 smooth, sometimes powdery, white to cream-coloured and pinkish bark that is shed in thin patches. 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 egg-shaped leaves that are long, wide and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped or curved, long and wide tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets on a branched peduncle long, each branch with groups of three or seven buds, the individual 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 oval to pear-shaped, long and wide with a rounded operculum. Flowering occurs in summer and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped to more or less cylindrical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level or enclosed.

Taxonomy and naming

''Corymbia aparrerinja'' was first formally described in 1995 by Ken Hill and

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 ...

from specimens collected on

Gosses Bluff Gosses Bluff (or Gosse's Bluff) is thought to be the eroded remnant of an impact crater. Known as Tnorala to the Western Arrernte people of the surrounding region, it is located in the southern Northern Territory, near the centre of Australia, ...

Herbert Basedow Herbert Basedow (27 October 1881 – 4 June 1933) was an Australian anthropologist, geologist, politician, explorer and medical practitioner. Basedow was born in Kent Town, South Australia. His early education was in Adelaide, South Australia ...

in 1925. The same specimens were used by

William Blakely William Faris Blakely (November 1875 – 1 September 1941) was an Australian botanist and collector. From 1913 to 1940 he worked in the National Herbarium of New South Wales, working with Joseph Maiden on ''Eucalyptus'', Maiden named a ''red g ...

to describe (in English), ''Eucalyptus papuana'' F.Muell. var. ''aparrerinja'', but did not provide a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

diagnosis ("description"), so the name was not validly published.

Distribution and habitat

Ghost gum occurs in arid areas of Central Australia on rocky slopes, red sand flats and dry creek beds. It is found from near Giles in Western Australia, through the south of the Northern Territory as far north as

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termin ...

to near

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, bas ...

and Barcaldine in Queensland.

Uses

Parts of this tree were used by

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

to treat colds.

Culture

In 1891 in Barcaldine, a ghost gum known as the Tree of Knowledge, was the focal point of a gathering of striking sheep shearers, a key event leading to the formation of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

. This species of tree features in

aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology, Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Ja ...

stories and gained prominence with the wider public in the 20th century through the paintings of aboriginal artist

Albert Namatjira Albert Namatjira (born Elea Namatjira; 28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959) was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential Australian artists. As a pioneer of cont ...

References