''Eucalyptus gittinsii'', commonly known as northern sandplain 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 Western Australia. It has smooth greyish bark, sometimes with rough flaky bark near the base, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, whitish flowers and cylindrical to barrel-shaped fruit. Eucalyptus gittinsii buds

Description

''Eucalyptus gittinsii'' is 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 brownish to white bark, sometimes with rough, flaky bark that peels off near 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 leaves arranged in opposite pairs, broadly lance-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on a petiole long 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 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, long and wide with a rounded to flattened operculum. Flowering occurs between December and February and the flowers are white or whitish. The fruit is a woody, cylindrical to barrel-shaped capsule that is more or less square in cross-section, long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus gittinsii'' was first formally described in 1978 by

Ian Brooker Murray Ian Hill Brooker AM (2 June 1934 – 25 June 2016), better known as Ian Brooker, was an Australian botanist. He was widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus ''Eucalyptus''. Ian Brooker was born in Adelaide, South Australi ...

and

Donald Blaxell Donald Frederick Blaxell (born 1 February 1934, Sydney, New South Wales), is an Australian botanist, botanical collector and taxonomist. Blaxell worked at the University of New South Wales for 11 years and joined the New south Wales Herbarium in ...

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 ...

'' from a specimen that Blaxell collected "67 km south of 'Billabong Roadhouse'" in 1975. 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 ...

honours Clifford Halliday Gittins (1904 - 1995) for his assistance to the

National Herbarium of New South Wales The National Herbarium of New South Wales was established in 1853. The Herbarium has a collection of more than 1.4 million plant specimens, making it the second largest collection of pressed, dried plant specimens in Australia,Thiers, B. ...

. In 2000,

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 ...

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 gittinsii'' Brooker & Blaxell ''gittinsii'' has glossy green adult leaves; * ''Eucalyptus gittinsii'' subsp. ''illucida'' D.Nicolle has dull, light green to bluish-green adult leaves.

Distribution and habitat

The northern sandplain mallee is found along the west coast of Western Australia on sand plains, sand dune and ridges in 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 ...

and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy soils often with

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 ...

gravel. Subspecies ''gittinsii'' grows in and near the

Kalbarri National Park Kalbarri National Park is located north of Perth, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The major geographical features of the park include the Murchison River gorge which runs for nearly on the lower reaches of the Murchison River. Sp ...

and subspecies ''illucida'' between Three Springs and the

Moore River Moore River is a river in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Geography The headwaters of the Moore River lie in the Perenjori, Carnamah and Dalwallinu Shires. The river then drains southwards through Moora, flows westerly before j ...

Conservation status

Both subspecies of ''E. gittinsii'' are 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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15401283 Eucalypts of Western Australia gittinsii Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1978 Mallees (habit) Taxa named by Ian Brooker

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

Conservation status

See also

References