''Eucalyptus argutifolia'', commonly known as Wabling Hill mallee or Yanchep mallee, is a mallee 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-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

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 ...

. It is a rare species with smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of seven or nine, white flowers and cylindrical to conical cup-shaped fruit. Eucalyptus argutifolia flowers

Description

''Eucalyptus argutifolia'' is a mallee that grows to a height of about with smooth grey or pale copper-coloured bark. Leaves on young plants and on

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 are egg-shaped to more or less round, long, wide, glossy green and have a petiole. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The adult leaves are the same glossy green on both sides. Leaves intermediate between juvenile and adult are also usually present. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven or nine on a thick peduncle long, the individual buds on a

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 or absent. Mature buds are oval, long and wide with a rounded operculum and about the same width 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 (March to April in areas where they occur naturally) and are followed by fruit that are cylindrical to conical or cup-shaped, long and wide.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus argutifolia'' was first formally described in 1992 by

Peter Grayling Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Ian Brooker Murray Ian Hill Brooker AM (2 June 1934 – 25 June 2016), better known as Ian Brooker, was an Australian botanist. He was widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus ''Eucalyptus''. Ian Brooker was born in Adelaide, South Australi ...

from a specimen that was collected at Parrot Ridge near

Yanchep Yanchep is an outer coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, north of the Perth CBD. It is a part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. Originally a small crayfishing settlement, it was developed by entrepreneur Alan Bond in the 1 ...

in 1987. The description was published in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. 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 ...

(''argutifolia'') is derived from the

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 ...

words ''argutus'' meaning "clear", "bright" or "sharp" and ''folium'' meaning "leaf", referring to the shiny adult leaves of this species. It is placed in the ''Eucalyptus'' sub-genus Symphyomyrtus, section Dumaria, series Rufispermae.

Distribution and habitat

Wabling Hill mallee occurs naturally on Wabling Hill and Parrot Ridge to the north of Yanchep and to the south of

Seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

on shallow soils of limestone ridges, on slopes and in gullies.

Conservation

This eucalypt is classified as "vulnerable" 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 " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the

Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was formed on 1 July 2006 ...

. The main threats to the species include mining activities, inappropriate fire regimes, grazing and weed invasion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eucalyptus Argutifolia Eucalypts of Western Australia argutifolia Myrtales of Australia Vulnerable flora of Australia Mallees (habit) Plants described in 1992 Taxa named by Ian Brooker

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

See also

References