''Eucalyptus concinna'', commonly known as the Victoria Desert mallee,
is a
mallee or small tree that is
endemic to
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 usually has rough, grey-brown on the lower part of its trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and cup-shaped fruit. It has a widespread distribution in
South Australia and
Western Australia, centred on the
Great Victoria Desert.
Description
''Eucalyptus concinna'' is a mallee that typically grows to a height of or sometimes a tree to and forms a
lignotuber. It has rough grey-brown, thick to flaky for the lower half of the trunk with pale grey or coppery smooth bark above. Young plants and
coppice regrowth have stems that are square in cross section, and egg-shaped to broadly lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are glossy green and arranged alternately with a blade that is lance-shaped, long and wide on a
petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven, nine or eleven 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 and 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
...
long. Mature buds are oblong to pear-shaped, long and wide with a conical, rounded, flattened or
turban-shaped,
operculum long that is wider than 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 ...
at the join. The buds are often orange or red immediately before flowering. Flowering occurs sporadically, probably depending on rainfall and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped, sometimes conical
capsule long and wide on a pedicel long.
Taxonomy
''Eucalyptus concinna'' was first formally described by the
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
s
Joseph Maiden and
William Blakely in 1929 from a specimen collected by
Richard Helms in 1891 during the
Elder Exploring Expedition.
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 ...
(''concinna'') is a
Latin word meaning "well-arranged", "skilfully joined", "beautiful" or "striking",
"probably referring to the habit and overall appearance of the plant".
Distribution
Victoria Desert mallee grows in red sand or red clayey sand or sandy loam in sandplains or sandhill areas. It is distributed throughout the
Goldfields-Esperance and
Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
regions of Western Australia
[ and the west of South Australia as far east as the Gawler Ranges.]
Conservation status
This eucalypt is classified as "not threatened" in Western Australia by the Western Australian Government 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 ...
.
See also
* List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15396474
concinna
Flora of South Australia
Mallees (habit)
Myrtales of Australia
Eucalypts of Western Australia
Plants described in 1929
Taxa named by Joseph Maiden
Taxa named by William Blakely