''Eucalyptus blaxellii'', commonly known as the Howatharra 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 ...

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 has smooth bark, linear to narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to conical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus blaxellii'' is a multi-stemmed mallee that typically grows to a height of . The bark is smooth and grey over pinkish-brown or coppery coloured new bark. The 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 arranged alternately, linear, long, wide and have a petiole. Adult leaves are linear to narrow lance-shaped, long, wide and the same glossy green on both sides. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven 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 a 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 ...

long. Mature buds are oval, long, wide with a rounded or conical operculum. Flowering occurs between August and November and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit are cup shaped to conical, long and wide with a thin rim and the valves enclosed or level with the rim.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus balxellii'' was first formally described in 1992 by Ken Hill and

Lawrie Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic botany, botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Garden ...

from a specimen collected in 1978 at Howatharra Gap north of

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

Donald Blaxell Donald Frederick Blaxell (born 1 February 1934, Sydney, New South Wales), is an Australian botanist, botanical collector and taxonomist. Blaxell worked at the University of New South Wales for 11 years and joined the New south Wales Herbarium in ...

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

(''blaxellii'') honours the collector of the type specimen who discovered the species.

Distribution and habitat

The Howatharra mallee is found on rocky hillsides and creek flats in the Wheatbelt near Morawa and in the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

region between

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and Geraldton in the Moresby Range where it grows in sandy-clay soils. It is an emergent in heath and occurs with ''

Eucalyptus loxophleba ''Eucalyptus loxophleba'', commonly known as York gum, daarwet, goatta, twotta or yandee, is a species of tree or mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk, smooth olive to brownish bark above, lance-shaped adul ...

'', '' Eucalyptus stowardii'', ''

Allocasuarina campestris ''Allocasuarina campestris'', commonly known as the Shrubby she-oak, is a shrub of the she-oak family Casuarinaceae native to Western Australia. The dioecious or monoecious shrub typically grows to a height of and produces red-brown flowers fro ...

'', '' Melaleuca megacephala'', '' Gastrolobium spinosum'' and various species of ''

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 ...

''.

Conservation

This mallee eucalypt is classified as " Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

, meaning that is rare or near threatened.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15397115 Eucalypts of Western Australia Trees of Australia blaxellii Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1992 Taxa named by Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Taxa named by Ken Hill (botanist)

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

See also

References