''Eucalyptus blakelyi'', known as Blakely's red gum, is a tree

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 eastern

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 smooth bark on its trunk and branches, dull bluish green, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to hemispherical fruit. Eucalyptus blakelyi buds

Description

''Eucalyptus blakelyi'' is a tree that grows to a height of and forms a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...

. The bark on the trunk and branches is smooth, pale grey, cream-coloured and white with patches of other colours. Young plants and

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 have stems that are square in cross section and usually egg-shaped leaves long and wide with a petiole. Adult leaves are lance-shaped to curved, the same bluish green on both sides, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are usually arranged in groups of seven but sometimes up to fifteen in leaf axils on a peduncle long, the individual flowers 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 ...

long. Mature buds are oval to spindle-shaped, long and wide with a conical to horn-shaped operculum long. Flowering occurs from October to December and the flowers are white. The fruit are hemispherical to compressed hemispherical, long and wide on a pedicel long with the valves protruding.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus blakelyi'' was first formally described in 1917 by

Joseph Maiden Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...

from a specimen collected in the Pilliga scrub by

Harald Jensen Harald Jensen (born 18 December 1966) is a Norway, Norwegian sport shooter competing in Olympic skeet, Skeet. Jensen won the gold medal at both the 2002 ISSF World Shooting Championships, ISSF World Shooting Championships and the ...

. The description was published in ''A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus''. 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 ...

(''blakelyi'') honours Maiden's assistant,

William Faris Blakely William Faris Blakely (November 1875 – 1 September 1941) was an Australian botanist and collector. From 1913 to 1940 he worked in the National Herbarium of New South Wales, working with Joseph Maiden on ''Eucalyptus'', Maiden named a ''red g ...

Distribution and habitat

Blakely's red gum grows in woodland and open forest, mainly on the tablelands 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 the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

but also in the far south-east of

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 north-eastern

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 sometimes grows in seasonally waterlogged depressions but also on stony rises.

References

{{Authority control blakelyi Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (Australia) Trees of Australia Plants described in 1917 Taxa named by Joseph Maiden