''Eucalyptus coronata'', commonly known as the crowned mallee, is a species of 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 ...

to a small part of the south coast of

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 on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds with pronounced ribs, arranged in groups of three 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, white to cream-coloured or yellow flowers and conical, prominently ribbed fruit. Eucalyptus coronata buds

Description

''Eucalyptus coronata'' is a multi-stemmed mallee that typically 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 ...

. It has smooth pale gray to pale brown bark throughout. The adult leaves are arranged alternately, bluish-green, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of three in leaf axils on a flattened peduncle long, the individual buds

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

or 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 long. Mature buds are more or less diamond-shaped, long and wide with many pronounced ribs along the sides, and a beaked operculum. Flowering occurs between April and May or July and November and the flowers are white or cream-coloured to yellow. The fruit is a woody, broadly conical capsule long and wide with prominent ridges and protruding valves that make them look like crowns.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus coronata'' was first formally described in 1933 by Charles Gardner and the description was published in the ''

Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) promotes science in Western Australia. The RSWA was founded in 1914. It publishes the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has awarded the Medal of the Royal Society of Western ...

''. Gardner had collected specimens near the Barren Range in 1914 and

Henry Steedman Henry Steedman (1866–1953) was a Scottish-born Australian botanist. Born in Scotland in 1866, he emigrated to Western Australia at the age of 21. He was head gardener at the South Perth Zoological Gardens (now Perth Zoo) for many years, but w ...

had collected in 1931 from the same area. In 1936 ''Eucalyptus mitrata'' was also described by Gardner in the same journal but it is considered to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''E. coronata''. 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 ...

(''coronata'') is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''coronatus'' meaning "crowned" and refers to the ribbed operculum.

Distribution and habitat

Crowned mallee grows in heath on coastal hills between Middle Mount Barren and

East Mount Barren East Mount Barren is a quartzite peak of the Barren Range in Fitzgerald River National Park. It was sighted and named by explorer Matthew Flinders on 6 January 1802, together with two other peaks in the range, West Mount Barren and Middle Mount B ...

in the

Fitzgerald River National Park Fitzgerald River National Park is a national park in the Shires of Ravensthorpe and the Jerramungup in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is recognised on Australia's National Heritage List for its outstanding diversity of native ...

. It grows in skeletal sandy soils and is found on rocky

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

hillsides.

Conservation status

This species is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

'' and as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the

Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was formed on 1 July 2006 ...

It is known from three populations, all of which are located in Fitzgerald River National Park. The total number of plants is estimated to be 140 scattered over an area of . In the 1980s the total number of plants was estimated at 40 however the total number of plants recorded has fluctuated as a result of bushfires in 1989, 1990 and 2006. The main threats to the species are road maintenance activities and wildfire.

Use in horticulture

This eucalypt is available for cultivation in home gardens used as a small landscaping species, ornamental, hedging and for honey production. It is both

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...

and

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

tolerant and will grow in a range of soil types and will cope in nutrient poor and acid soils.

References