''Corymbia dendromerinx'', 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 ...
to the south-western
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, a ...
region of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with a stocking of rough bark near the base, a
crown of variably-shaped leaves, flower buds mostly in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and barrel-shaped, cylindrical or cup-shaped fruit.
Description
''Corymbia dendromerinx'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a
lignotuber. It has smooth white to cream-coloured bark that is shed in small sheets, sometimes with a stocking of rough, scaly bark near the base, the rough bark not clearly demarcated from the smooth bark, as in similar ghost gums. Young plants and
coppice regrowth have heart-shaped to egg-shaped leaves that are long, wide, arranged in opposite pairs and with a
petiole long. The crown of the tree has intermediate and adult leaves that are arranged in opposite pairs or alternately and vary in shape from heart-shaped to lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are borne on leafless branchlets in large clusters on branched
peduncles long, each branch of the peduncle with buds mostly in groups of seven, the 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 pear-shaped to oval, long and wide with a rounded to flattened
operculum. Flowering has been observed from October to December and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody barrel-shaped, cylindrical or cup-shaped
capsule long and wide with the valves enclosed in the fruit.
Taxonomy and naming
''Corymbia dendromerinx'' was first formally described in 1995 by
Kenneth Hill and
Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson
Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian taxonomic botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for the whole of his professional career, as a botanist (1948 ...
in the journal ''
Telopea''.
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
(''dendromerinx'') is derived from the Greek, meaning "a tree" and "a bristle", referring to the tree-like appearance of the bristles on the leaves when magnified.
Distribution and habitat
This ghost gum grows mostly on plains and flat sites in the south-west Kimberley region, and prefers alluvial soils or red loams. It is abundant to the west of
Fitzroy Crossing and south of the
Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges.
See also
*
List of Corymbia species
The following is a list of species in the genus ''Corymbia'' accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at April 2023.
Species
*'' Corymbia abbreviata'' ( Blakely & Jacobs) K.D.Hill & L.A.S.Johnson – scraggy bloodwood (W.A., N.T.)
*'' Corymb ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15397862
dendromerinx
Myrtales of Australia
Rosids of Western Australia
Plants described in 1995