''Eucalyptus cloeziana'', commonly known as Gympie messmate or dead finish, is a species of tree 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 ...

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_ ...

. It has rough, flaky to fibrous bark on its trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves that are much paler on the lower side, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and hemispherical fruit. Eucalyptus cloeziana buds

Description

''Eucalyptus cloeziana'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of in forest but usually in woodland. It has thick, rough, fibrous to flaky, brownish to grey bark on the trunk and smooth grey to orange bark on the branches. Leaves on young plants and on coppice regrowth are egg-shaped, long and wide and a lighter shade of green on the lower side. Adult leaves are lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on a petiole long. The leaves are dull green and a much lighter shade on the lower side. The 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 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 seven buds 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 spherical to oval, long and wide with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering occurs in December and January and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, hemispherical capsule long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus cloeziana'' was first formally described in 1878 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

from a specimen collected near

Rockingham Bay Rockingham Bay is a bay in Far North Queensland, Australia. The bay opens onto the Coral Sea, part of the South Pacific Ocean. Adjacent to the bay is the Girramay National Park, south of which is the town of Cardwell. Goold Island is a smal ...

John Dallachy John Dallachy (c. 1808 – 4 June 1871) was a curator of Melbourne Botanic Gardens and a plant collector. Dallachy was born in Elginshire, Scotland. He worked as a gardener for the Earl of Aberdeen and Kew Gardens. In 1847, he went to Ceylon to ma ...

. The description was published in '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae''. 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 ...

(''cloeziana'') honours François Stanislas Cloez who identified cineole as the major constituent of eucalyptus oil.

Distribution and habitat

Gympie messmate has a widespread but scattered distribution in

, particularly from east of Tambo to

Mundubbera Mundubbera ( ) is a town and a locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mundubbera had a population of 1261 people. Mundubbera is the self-proclaimed "Citrus Capital of Queensland", although this is disputed by the n ...

and Gympie, and from west of Townsville to north-west of

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...

with isolated occurrences in between. It grows in open forest and woodland on tablelands and slopes and is often the dominant species of tree.Brooker, I. & Kleinig, D., ''Eucalyptus, An illustrated guide to identification'', Reed Books, Melbourne, 1996

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3017645 cloeziana Myrtales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1878 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller