''Eucalyptus dolorosa'', commonly known as the Mount Misery mallee or Dandaragan mallee,
is a species of eucalypt 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 Western Australia. It is a
mallee with a short skirt of rough flaky bark at the base of the trunk, smooth pale greyish brown above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to spherical fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus dolorosa'' typically grows to a height of and forms a
lignotuber. The bark on the lower of the trunk is rough flaky and grey to yellowish brown, smooth, pale grey-brown above. Young plants and
coppice regrowth have leaves arranged alternately, egg-shaped to lance-shaped, long, wide and
petiolate
Petiole may refer to:
*Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem
*Petiole (insect anatomy)
In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, a ...
. Adult leaves are glossy green, arranged alternately, lance-shaped to curved long and wide with a pointed apex and a base tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets on a branching
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 and wide with a conical
operculum. It blooms between February and March producing yellow flowers. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped to more or less spherical
capsule long and wide with a descending disc and four or five valves at rim level. The brown pyramidal seeds within are long.
Taxonomy
''Eucalyptus dolorosa'' was first formally described by the botanists
Ian Brooker 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 ...
in 1993 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 ...
is taken 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 ...
word ''dolorosus'' meaning "painful" or "sad",
in reference to the only locality where the species is found.
[
The species is part of the ''Eucalyptus'' subgenus series ''Diversiformae'', a group of mallees that all have adult leaves held erect, buds with a single unscarred operculum and pyramidal seeds. The other species in this series include '' E. erectifolia'', '' E. platydisca'', '' E. diversifolia'', '' E. todtiana'', '' E. lateritica'', '' E. pachyloma'' and '' E. buprestium''.]
Distribution and habitat
Mount Misery mallee is found on a hillside in a small area of the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia around Dandaragan
Dandaragan is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The name of Dandaragan was first recorded in 1850 as the name of a nearby gulley and spring or watering hole known as Dandaraga spring. The word is Indigenous Australian i ...
where it grows in lateritic
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
soils.
The plant is part of a mallee heath community over low scrub, situated between large ironstone boulders. Other species found in the scrub include '' Eucalyptus arachnaea'', '' E. gittinsii'', '' E. pluricaulis'', '' E. abdita'', ''Hakea lissocarpha
''Hakea lissocarpha'', commonly known as honey bush or the duck and drake bush, is a shrub of the genus ''Hakea'' native to a large area in the Mid West, Wheatbelt, Peel, South West, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western ...
'', '' H. obliqua'', '' H. undulata'', ''Calothamnus quadrifidus
''Calothamnus quadrifidus'', commonly known as one-sided bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The common name alludes to the arrangement of the flowers in the infloresce ...
'', '' Melaleuca radula'', ''Acacia pulchella
''Acacia pulchella'', commonly known as prickly moses or western prickly moses, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it is one of the most common shrubs of the bushland around Perth and in the Darling Range.
Descrip ...
'' and ''Eremaea asterocarpa
''Eremaea asterocarpa'' is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with broad, flat leaves, and orange-coloured flowers in late winter or spring. Single flowers appear on the ...
''.
Conservation status
This species is listed as endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
by the '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia).
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405580
dolorosa
Our Lady of Sorrows ( la, Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows ( la, Mater Dolorosa, link=no), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names ...
Eucalypts of Western Australia
Myrtales of Australia
Plants described in 1993
Taxa named by Ian Brooker
Taxa named by Stephen Hopper