''Eucalyptus baxteri'', commonly known as brown stringybark, is a medium-sized tree that is endemic the south-east of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It has rough, stringy bark to the thinnest branches, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, green to yellow flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, and cup-shaped or hemispherical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus baxteri'' is a tree that grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has grey to brownish, stringy or fibrous bark from the trunk to the thinnest branches. Young plants and coppice regrowth have egg-shaped, glossy green leaves long and wide. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, curved or egg-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The leaves are the same glossy green on both sides. The flowers are borne in groups of between nine and fifteen 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 on an unbranched

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

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 , rarely long. Mature buds are green to yellow, oval to oblong, long and wide with a rounded, conical or flattened, warty operculum 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 ...

. Flowering mainly occurs from June to January and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, hemispherical or shortened spherical capsule long and wide with the valves level with the rim or slightly above.

Taxonomy and naming

Brown stringybark was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham who gave it the name ''Eucalyptus santalifolia'' var.? ''baxteri'' and published the description in '' Flora Australiensis''. In 1926, John McConnell Black published the name ''Eucalyptus baxteri'' in Volume 3 of the ''Flora of South Australia''. 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 ...

(''baxteri'') honours William Baxter.

Distribution and habitat

Brown stringybark grows in wet forest, woodland, heath and on coastal dunes and headlands in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. In New South Wales it only occurs south from the

Nadgee Nature Reserve The Nadgee Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in the far south coast region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The reserve is situated to the immediate south of Beowa National Park. Its southern border is boun ...

. In Victoria it is found in coastal and near coastal areas and as far inland as places like Casterton, Clunes and the

Grampians The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. T ...

. It occurs in the far south-east of South Australia, including the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.

Ecology

The seeds of trees of this species that are over 100 years old are an important source of food for the endangered south-eastern subspecies of the red-tailed black cockatoo.

Gallery

References

* {{Authority control Myrtales of Australia baxteri Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Trees of Australia Trees of Mediterranean climate Plants described in 1867 Taxa named by George Bentham