''Eucalyptus albens'', known as the white box, is a common tree of the western slopes and plains of

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 ...

and adjacent areas in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. It has rough, fibrous bark on the base of its trunk and smooth, white bark above. The leaves are lance-shaped and groups of seven spindle-shaped flower buds are arranged in leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

s or on the ends of the branches. White flowers are mostly present between August and February and the fruit are barrel-shaped to urn-shaped.

Description

''Eucalyptus albens'' is a tree that grows to a height of high with a straight trunk for about half its total height and a branched, spreading crown. Its trunk may reach diameter at breast height and has rough, fibrous, pale grey, sometimes

tessellated A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety of ge ...

bark to the base of its larger branches. The bark higher up is smooth and white and is shed annually in short ribbons. The leaves on young plants are arranged alternately, egg-shaped to almost round, bluish grey, long, wide and have a petiole. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, dull greyish green and paler on one side, long and wide with a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on a branching

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

, each branch with groups of seven buds. The peduncle is flattened or angular and long, each flower on a cylindrical

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

up to long. The buds are spindle-shaped to more or less cylindrical, long and wide with the operculum cone-shaped and about as long as 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 ...

. The flowers are white and appear in the autumn from March to May. The fruit are urn-shaped to barrel-shaped, long and wide. Eucalyptus albens flowers

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus albens'' was first formally described in 1867

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published be ...

'', from material collected in several locations, including by

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, Allan Cunningham, along the "Macquarrie river". In 2009,

Anthony Bean Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants. Care ...

selected the material collected b
Charles Stuart
in the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

district of New South Wales as the

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

. This eucalypt is related to grey box ('' E. moluccana'') and inland grey box ('' E. microcarpa''). Hybridization with grey box has been reported in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

. 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 ...

(''albens'') 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 "whitening". Both the epithet and common names are derived from the white deposits over the leaves and gumnuts, while the epithet "box" comes from the box-like tessellated pattern in the bark. The

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , ...

people of

use the name ''birri'' for the species.

Distribution and habitat

The white box is a tree of grassy eucalypt woodlands on plains or gently sloping areas from south-east Queensland to the western slopes of New South Wales and north-eastern Victoria extending as far south as Yea. Isolated populations occur in the

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...

and near Melrose

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is associated with inland grey box, fuzzy box ('' E. conica''), yellow box ('' E. melliodora''), Pilliga grey box ('' E. pilligaensis''), red ironbark ('' E. sideroxylon''), narrow-leaved ironbark ('' E. crebra''), Blakely's red gum ('' E. blakelyi''), apple species (''

Angophora ''Angophora'' is a genus of nine species of trees and shrubs in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Endemic to eastern Australia, they differ from other eucalypts in having juvenile and adult leaves arranged in opposite pairs, sepals reduced to projec ...

''), black cypress (''

Callitris endlicheri ''Callitris endlicheri'', commonly known as the black cypress pine, is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is found only in Australia, occurring in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria. Des ...

''), white cypress (''

Callitris glaucophylla ''Callitris'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three (''C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata'' and ''C. p ...

''), kurrajong (''

Brachychiton populneus ''Brachychiton populneus'', commonly known as the kurrajong, is a small to medium-sized tree found naturally in Australia in a diversity of habitats from wetter coastal districts to semi-arid interiors of Victoria, New South Wales and Queenslan ...

'') and wattles (''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'') species.

Conservation

''Eucalyptus albens'' is a component of the "WhiteBox Yellow Box Blakelys' Red Gum Woodland" commonly referred to as "Box-Gum Woodland" that is classed as "critically endangered" 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 as an "endangered ecological community" under the New South Wales Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''.

Uses

The heavy and hard wood is used for

railway sleeper A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper (Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer ...

s and

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length. ...

posts. The flowers produce nectar for the honey industry.

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

Uses

References

Further reading