''Corymbia arnhemensis'', commonly known as Katherine Gorge bloodwood, is a species of slender 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 else ...

to the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

of the Northern Territory. It has rough bark on some or all of the trunk, sometimes the larger branches, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.

Description

''Corymbia arnhemensis'' is a slender 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 grey to grey brown, tessellated bark on part or all of the trunk, sometimes also the larger branches, and smooth white to grey or pinkish bark above. Young plants a

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 repeate ...

regrowth have elliptical to egg-shaped or lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. The adult leaves are arranged alternately, dull green on the upper surface, paler below, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on a slender, branched peduncle long, each branch with 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 oval to narrow pear-shaped, long and wide with a rounded to conical operculum. Flowering has been observed in November and from February to April and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody urn-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves enclosed in the fruit.

Taxonomy and naming

The Katherine Gorge bloodwood was first formally described in 1985 by Denis Carr and Stella Carr from specimens collected near Oenpelli (present day

Gunbalanya Gunbalanya (also spelt Kunbarlanja, and historically referred to as Oenpelli) is an Aboriginal Australian town in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, about east of Darwin. The main language spoken in the community is Kunwi ...

) by

Raymond Specht Raymond Louis Specht (19 July 1924 – 13 February 2021) was an Australian plant ecologist, conservationist and academic, who participated in the Arnhem Land Scientific Expedition of 1948. Early life Raymond Louis Specht was born in 1924 in ...

in 1948, and was given the name ''Eucalyptus arnhemensis''. In 1995 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 ...

changed the name to ''Corymbia arnhemensis''. The specific epithet (''arnhemensis'') refers to the occurrence of this species in Arnhem Land.

Distribution and habitat

''Corymbia arnhemensis'' is endemic to the Top End of the Northern Territory between Jabiluka and Katherine Gorge in

Nitmiluk National Park Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, and 23 km northeast of the town of Katherine, around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls. Previously named Katherine ...

, and grows among sandstone rocks, usually on escarpments and on ridges in shallow sandy soil.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15396047 arenaria Myrtales of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Plants described in 1985 Taxa named by Maisie Carr

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

See also

References