''Eucalyptus gamophylla'', commonly known as warilu, blue-leaved mallee, twin-leaf mallee, twin-leaved mallee or blue mallee, is a species of mallee that is native to

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 ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. It usually has smooth bark, mostly only juvenile leaves arranged in opposite pairs, flower buds in groups of three, whitish flowers and cylindrical to barrel-shaped fruit that is four-sided in cross-section.

Description

''Eucalyptus gamophylla'' is 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 ...

but sometimes has an almost prostrate habit. It usually has smooth white, cream-coloured or brown bark that is shed in short ribbons but there is sometimes a stocking of rough, hard, stringy-fibrous bark at the base. Most of its leaves are juvenile,

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 ...

, arranged in opposite pairs sometimes with their bases joined,

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

, egg-shaped to heart-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves, when present, are more or less in opposite pairs, the same dull, greyish green on both sides, sessile, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of three on a 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 club-shaped to pear-shaped, long and wide with a rounded operculum. Flowering occurs in most months, depending on habitat and in some places follows rain. The flowers are whitish and the fruit is a woody conical, cylindrical, bell-shaped or barrel-shaped capsule four-sided in cross-section, long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus gamophylla'' was first formally described by the

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

in 1878 in his book '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae''. The type specimen was collected by

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

from Mount Pyrten in the

Hamersley Range The Hamersley Range is a mountainous region of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range was named on 12 June 1861 by explorer Francis Thomas Gregory after Edward Hamersley (senior), Edward Hamersley, a prominent promoter of his explo ...

and cited as ''In monte Pyrten tractus Hammersley-Range, altitudine 2,500' supra mare''. 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 ...

(''gamophylla'') means "marriage-leaved", referring to the bases of the opposite leaves being joined.

Distribution and habitat

Warilu is found on sandplains and sand dunes and in stony spinifex country. It has a range extending from the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

and Goldfields-Esperance regions of central Western Australia, then extending east into central and southern areas of the Northern Territory and the far north of South Australia. Species commonly associated with ''E. gamophylla'' include '' Triodia basedowii'', ''

Acacia ligulata ''Acacia ligulata'' is a species of ''Acacia'', a dense shrub widespread in all states of mainland Australia. It is not considered rare or endangered. Common names include sandhill wattle, umbrella bush, marpoo, dune wattle, small coobah,Cunning ...

'', ''

Acacia georginae ''Acacia georginae'' is a perennial tree which is native to arid areas of central Australia and has been introduced into the United States. Common names for it include Georgina gidgee, Georgina gidyea and poison gidyea. Description The tree ty ...

'', ''

Eremophila longifolia ''Eremophila longifolia'', known by a range of common names including berrigan, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with weeping branches, long, narrow leaves a ...

'' and ''

Eragrostis eriopoda ''Eragrostis eriopoda'', the woollybutt grass, is a species of love grass in the family Poaceae, native to most of Australia. It is a major grass species of the Mulga (habitat), mulga savanna. In the same genus as teff, its seeds are edible, but ...

''.

Use in horticulture

''Eucalyptus gamophylla'' is

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

tolerant and hardy in the cold, able to tolerate temperatures as low as and is frost tolerant. When cultivated for the garden, it is bird attracting, fast growing, requires very little maintenance and can provide plenty of aromatic cut foliage for flower arrangements.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3059458 gamophylla Flora of South Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Myrtales of Australia Eucalypts of Western Australia Plants described in 1878 Mallees (habit) Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

Use in horticulture

See also

References