''Eucalyptus flindersii'', commonly known as the South Australian grey mallee, mallee red gum, or grey 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 South Australia. It usually has smooth, pinkish grey bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven and conical or hemispherical fruit with the valves protruding. Eucalyptus flindersii buds

Description

''Eucalyptus flindersii'' is a mallee, rarely a small tree, and typically grows to a height of and usually has smooth, dull, grey bark that sheds in flakes to reveal a paler layer, sometimes with rough bark at the base of the trunk. 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 repeated ...

regrowth have stems that are more or less square in cross-section, and leaves that are

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 ...

, egg-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves are the same dull to slightly glossy, green to blue-green colour on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on a petiole wide. 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 three or seven on an unbranched 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

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 ...

up to long. Mature buds are oval, long and wide with a rounded to conical operculum. Flowering occurs between August and October and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody hemispherical to conical capsule long and wide with the valves protruding above the rim of the fruit.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus flindersii'' was first formally described in 1980 by Clifford Boomsma in the ''

Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace, Adelaide, North Terrace (between Lot Fourteen, the site of the old ...

'' from a specimen collected by Roger Callen on

Mount Hack Mount Hack, also known as Yarrngarri Arraindanha Vambata, is a mountain peak in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia located in the locality of Warraweena. Peak elevation is . According to the book ''Chequered Lives'', it was named after Step ...

in the

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...

. 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 ...

(''flindersii'') honours Captain

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

, after whom the Flinders Ranges, where this species occurs, was named.

Distribution and habitat

The South Australian grey mallee grows on slopes and between rocks in open woodland, mainly in the Flinders Ranges but with outliers to the south near

Yunta Yunta is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state's east about north-east of the state capital of Adelaide. It is a service centre supporting both the local area and travellers passing through on the Ba ...

and

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as bo ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15397032 flindersii Myrtales of Australia Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1980

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

See also

References