''Eucalyptus alba'', commonly known as white gum, khaki gum or poplar gum, is a species of tree that is native to Australia,

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

, and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and conical to hemispherical fruits. Montane woodland at c

Description

''Eucalyptus alba'' is a tree which grows to a height of with a spreading

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

wide. The trunk is often bent and has smooth pinkish red to white or cream-coloured, powdery bark. The leaves on young plants are arranged alternately, egg-shaped to more or less round, long and wide. The adult leaves are egg-shaped to lance-shaped, long and wide with both sides a similar shade of green. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven on a peduncle long. The buds are oval to more or less spherical, with an operculum long and wide, similar in dimension to the

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 ...

. White flowers appear from August to November and are sometimes profuse. The fruit are cone-shaped to hemispherical, long and wide. The related '' Eucalyptus bigalerita'' is similar in appearance, but has larger leaves, buds and seed pods, and is found in alluvial flats.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus alba'' was first described in 1826 by

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796, Braunschweig – 3 February 1862, Leiden) was a German-Dutch botanist. He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life wor ...

, after being discovered by

Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (5 June 1773 in Lüttringhausen – 6 March 1854 in Leiden) was a Prussian-born Dutch botanist. He is considered to be the founding father of Bogor Botanical Garden in Indonesia. Biography In 1787 he was appre ...

on Timor and the description was published in Blume's book, ''Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië ''. 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 ...

(''alba'') is 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 ...

word meaning "white" and refers to the bark. Within the genus ''Eucalyptus'', this species belongs in the subgenus ''Symphyomyrtus''. Common names include white gum, poplar gum, khaki gum, wongoola, salmon gum and Timor white gum.

Distribution and habitat

A dominant tree in open woodlands, white gum is found from northeastern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in the

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 across 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 and between the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

and

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

in Queensland, as well as New Guinea and Timor. It is often found on ridges and elevated areas, often on poor soil.

Uses

''Eucalyptus alba'' has horticultural appeal as a small ornamental tree, and can also attract birds. It has also been used for fencing in northern Australia, while the flowers have been used in the beekeeping industry for honey. It was valued by aborigines in the Northern Territory for firewood.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q717857 Flora of Queensland Trees of Australia

alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed i ...

Myrtales of Australia Flora of East Timor Plants described in 1826 Flora of the Northern Territory Eucalypts of Western Australia Taxa named by Carl Ludwig Blume

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Uses

See also

References