''Eucalyptus falcata'', commonly known as silver mallet
or toolyumuck,
is a species of
mallee or
marlock A marlock or moort is a shrubby or small-tree form of ''Eucalyptus'' found in Western Australia. Unlike the mallee, it is single-stemmed and lacks a lignotuber. It has a dense canopy of leaves which often extends to near ground level.
Marlock spec ...
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 else ...
to Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of eleven or thirteen, creamy white or yellowish green flowers and flattened spherical fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus falcata'' is a mallee or marlock that 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 ...
and typically grows to a height of . It has smooth, silvery gray and green-gray over pale brown-orange bark. Young plants and
coppice
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeate ...
regrowth have egg-shaped,
petiolate leaves arranged in opposite pairs and long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf
axils in groups of eleven or thirteen on an unbranched, down-turned
peduncle long, the individual buds on
pedicels
In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''.
Description
Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...
long. Mature buds are oval, long and wide with an elongated, conical
operculum. Flowering occurs between August and May and the flowers are creamy white or yellowish green. The fruit is a woody, flattened spherical
capsule long and wide on a pedicel up to long.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus falcata'' was first formally described in 1847 by Nikolai Turczaninow
Nikolai Stepanovich Turczaninow ( ru , Николай Степанович Турчанинов, 1796 in Nikitovka, now in Krasnogvardeysky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia – 1863 in Kharkov) was a Russian botanist and plant collector who ...
in ''Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou'' from a specimen collected by James Drummond.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 "sickle-shaped".Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
peoples know the tree as ''toolyumuck''.
Distribution and habitat
Silver mallet has a scattered distribution of isolated populations from near Kojonup, to near Corrigin and north to Tammin, in the Avon Wheatbelt
The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion.
Geography
The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low reli ...
, Esperance Plains
Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a p ...
, Geraldton Sandplains
Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth.
At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...
, Jarrah Forest
Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named i ...
, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...
biogeographic regions. It is often found on the top or slopes of 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 ...
rises and is associated with species such as '' E. astringens'', '' E. densa'', '' E. incrassata'', '' E. salmonophloia'', '' E. urna'' and '' E. wandoo''.
Conservation status
This eucalypt is 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 ...
.
See also
* List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15396167
Eucalypts of Western Australia
falcata
The falcata is a type of sword typical of pre-Roman Iberia. The falcata was used to great effect for warfare in the ancient Iberian peninsula, and is firmly associated with the southern Iberian tribes, among other ancient peoples of Hispania. ...
Myrtales of Australia
Plants described in 1847
Taxa named by Nikolai Turczaninow
Endemic flora of Southwest Australia