''Eucalyptus herbertiana'', commonly known as Kalumburu gum
or yellow-barked mallee, is a species of small tree or
mallee that is
endemic to northern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped, hemispherical or conical fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus herbertiana'' is a small tree or mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a
lignotuber. It has smooth, powdery white bark with salmon coloured or creamy yellow new bark. Young plants and
coppice regrowth have bluish grey to
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 leaves long and wide. Adult leaves are the same dull green colour on both sides, lance-shaped or curved, 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 on an unbranched
peduncle Peduncle may refer to:
*Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed
*Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body
**Peduncle (art ...
long, the individual buds
sessile or on a
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 conical
operculum. Flowering occurs in January, from June to July or from November to December and the flowers are white or creamy white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, hemispherical or conical
capsule long and wide with the valves protruding high above the rim. The Northern Territory Flora reports that this ecualypt is
deciduous during the later dry season.
Taxonomy
''Eucalyptus herbertiana'' 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 ...
Joseph Maiden in 1923 in his book ''A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus''. The name honours Australian botanist
Desmond Herbert
Desmond Andrew Herbert (17 June 1898 – 8 September 1976) was an Australian botanist.
The son of a fruit-grower, Herbert was born in Diamond Creek, Victoria in 1898; was educated at Malvern State School and the Melbourne Church of England Gr ...
.
''Eucalyptus herbertiana'' belongs to a small group of species closely related to the red gums and is most closely related to ''
E. cupularis'' and ''
E. gregoriensis''.
[ It is similar in appearance to and closely related to the mountain white gum ('' E. mooreana'') but ''E.mooreana'' has stem-clasping leaves.]
Distribution and habitat
Kalumburu gum is found growing in skeletal soils amongst sandstone outcrops, hillsides and at the bases of ridges in the Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, a ...
region of Western Australia, the top end of the Northern Territory and into western Queensland.[
]
Conservation status
This mallee 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 ...
, and as "least concern under the Northern Territory Government Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2000
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international relations, international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extr ...
and the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.
See also
* List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15399242
Eucalypts of Western Australia
Trees of Australia
herbertiana
Myrtales of Australia
Plants described in 1923
Taxa named by Joseph Maiden