''Eucalyptus densa'' is a species of mallee or

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...

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 greyish bark that is shed in curly strips, linear to narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, long, spindle-shaped flower buds in groups of seven or nine, pale yellow or lemon-coloured flowers and conical, cylindrical or barrel-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus densa'' is a mallee or a mallet that typically grows to a height of and does not form 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 grey to cream-coloured bark that is shed in curly flakes. Its adult leaves are the same dull greyish green on both sides, linear to narrow lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. 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 in groups of seven or nine on an unbranched 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 shaped like a long spindle, long and wide with a horn-shaped operculum about four times as long as 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 ...

. Flowering occurs between January and February or May to September and the flowers are pale yellow or lemon coloured. The fruit is a woody conical, cylindrical or barrel-shaped capsule with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus densa'' was first formally described in 1991 by the botanists

Ian Brooker Murray Ian Hill Brooker AM (2 June 1934 – 25 June 2016), better known as Ian Brooker, was an Australian botanist. He was widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus ''Eucalyptus''. Ian Brooker was born in Adelaide, South Australi ...

and

Stephen Hopper Stephen Donald Hopper AC FLS FTSE (born 18 June 1951) is a Western Australian botanist. He graduated in Biology, specialising in conservation biology and vascular plants. Hopper has written eight books, and has over 200 publications to his n ...

and the description was published in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. 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 ...

(''densa'') is a

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 ...

word meaning "thick", "close" or "compact", referring to

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

of this species. Brooker and Hopper also described two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

and the names have been accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Eucalyptus densa'' subsp. ''densa'' - a short-trunked mallet with a dense crown, often to ground level; * ''Eucalyptus densa'' subsp. ''improcera'' - a mallee up to tall with slender stems. The subspecies name ''improcera'' is a Latin word meaning "short" or "undersized", referring to its stature compared to subspecies ''densa''.

Distribution and habitat

This eucalypt is found on ridges, flats and drainage line areas of the southern Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it grows in clay, loam, sandy or lateritic soils. Subspecies ''densa'' is found between Ongerup,

Ravensthorpe Ravensthorpe may refer to any of the following places. England *Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury in West Yorkshire **Ravensthorpe railway station, Dewsbury *Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire *Ravensthorpe, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire *Ravensthorpe, an histor ...

and Hyden and subspecies ''improcera'' in the Ravensthorpe and Jerramungup areas.

Conservation status

Both subspecies of ''E. densa'' are classified as "not threatened" 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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15397471 densa Endemic flora of Western Australia Mallees (habit) Myrtales of Australia Eucalypts of Western Australia Plants described in 1991 Taxa named by Ian Brooker Taxa named by Stephen Hopper

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

Conservation status

See also

References