''Eucalyptus flocktoniae'', commonly known as merrit, is a species of tree or 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 Western Australia. It has smooth, silvery grey bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, prominently beaked flower buds in groups of seven or nine and barrel-shaped or urn-shaped fruit. Eucalyptus flocktoniae fruit

Description

''Eucalyptus flocktoniae'' is a tree or a 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 silvery grey or brownish bark, sometimes with a small amount of rough bark near the base. 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 elliptical to egg-shaped or lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are lance-shaped to curved, the some glossy green on both sides, 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

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 a prominently beaked to horn-shaped operculum long. Flowering occurs from August to December or from January to April and the flowers are white to cream-coloured or pale yellow. The fruit is a woody, barrel-shaped or urn-shaped capsule long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

Merrit was first formally described in 1911 by

Joseph Maiden Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...

who gave it the name ''Eucalyptus oleosa'' var. ''flocktoniae'' in the '' Journal of the Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia''. In 1916, Maiden raised the variety to species status as ''E. flocktoniae''. 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 ...

(''flocktoniae'') honours "Miss Margaret Flockton, the accomplished artist of my 'Critical Revision of the genus Eucalyptus' and 'Forest Flora of New South Wales'". "Merrit" is the name given to the species by

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 ...

people. In 1999,

Dean Nicolle 270px, Dean Nicolle and '' Eucalyptus deanei'' Dean Nicolle (born 1974), is an Australian botanist, arborist and ecologist. He is widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus ''Eucalyptus''. Nicolle was born in Adelaide, South Austr ...

and

John Conran John Conran (born 1957 in Rathnure, County Wexford, Ireland) is an Irish former hurling manager and player. He played hurling for his local club Rathnure Rathnure () is a small village on the R731 regional road about from the town of Enn ...

described two subspecies 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 flocktoniae'' (Maiden) Maiden subsp. ''flocktoniae'' has glossy green leaves; * ''Eucalyptus flocktoniae'' subsp. ''hebes'' D.Nicolle has bluish green leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''Eucalyptus flocktoniae'' usually grows in open woodland and forest on sandy plains. Subspecies ''flocktoniae'' occurs between Mingenew, the

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

and the

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 ...

area. Subspecies ''hebes'' has a narrower distribution mainly between Esperance and Balladonia.

Gallery

Image:Eucalyptus flocktoniae00.jpg, illustration by

Margaret Flockton Margaret Lilian Flockton (29 September 1861 Sussex – 12 August 1953 Sydney), is most commonly recognized as a botanical artist famous for her botanical illustrations of ''"The Forest Flora of New South Wales"'' (some 300 plates), ''"A Criti ...

Image:Goldfields Whitegum in Primer of Forestry Poole 1922.png, mature tree, circa 1920 Image:Eucalyptus flocktoniae habit.jpg, habit in the

ANBG The Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) is a heritage-listed botanical garden located in , Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Established in 1949, the Gardens is administered by the Australian Government's Departme ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q12839326 flocktoniae Eucalypts of Western Australia Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1911 Taxa named by Joseph Maiden