''Eucalyptus incrassata'', commonly known as the lerp mallee, yellow mallee, ridge fruited mallee or rib fruited 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 southern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough, ribbony bark near the base, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white, pale yellow, sometimes pink or red flowers, and cylindrical, barrel-shaped or bell-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus incrassata'' is a single stemmed or multi-stemmed mallee that typically grows to a height of but can reach as high as . It will usually grow to a width of and it 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 ...

. The bark is smooth pink to grey or brownish, sometimes with rough grey to brown ribbons 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 dull bluish green, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves that are long and wide. The adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven 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 oblong to pear-shaped, long and wide with a conical operculum. It blooms between August and April producing cream-white-yellow blossoms. The fruit is a woody, cylindrical to barrel-shaped or bell-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves below rim level.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus incrassata'' 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 ...

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...

in 1806 in his two-volume treatise, ''

Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' is a two-volume work describing the flora of Australia. Facsimiles of the originals can be found in the onlinBiodiversity Heritage Library (Vol.1)anVol 2) The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillar ...

''. 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 ...

(''incrassata'') means "made thick" or "flattened", referring to the leaves.

Distribution

Lerp mallee is often found along sandplains and hillsides and is distributed 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 ...

, through the Wheatbelt and along the south coast in the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy soils. It is also found in the south of

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 ...

extending into

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. This is one of the most widespread mallee species in Australia. It is associated with the western mallee subgroup which is characterised by several eucalypts including '' E. oleosa'', '' E. moderata'', '' E. eremophila'', '' E. foecunda'', '' E. redunca'' and '' E. uncinata''. The understorey is predominantly shrubby with species of ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

'' and ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' along with the occasional '' Triodia''.

Ecology

This eucalypt attracts nectar-eating birds and insects that use it for food and habitat.

Use in horticulture

''E. incrassata'' is used as a shade tree, mass planting will offer good screening, good for erosion control or as a windbreak. It is suitable mediterranean and bush style gardens and responds well to

coppicing Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, pro ...

. It is tolerant of both

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 ...

and light

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...

. Able to grow in ordinary soil or enriched soil that is either acidic to alkaline and prefers a position in the full sun. Seeds will germinate in 2 to 6 weeks and it can be grown from cuttings. The tree is susceptible to

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant diseases to identify, as ...

in the wetter months of winter, it can also be affected by

myrtle rust ''Austropuccinia psidii'', commonly known as myrtle rust, guava rust, or ʻōhiʻa rust; is a rust (a type of plant pathogen) native to South America that affects plants in the family Myrtaceae. It is a member of the fungal complex called the ...

and by

dieback Dieback may refer to a number of plant problems and diseases including: * Forest dieback caused by acid rain, heavy metal pollution, or imported pathogens * The death of regions of a plant or similar organism caused by physical damage, such as from ...

. It is also suitable to produce large amounts of

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

, able to make per hectare per year. In wheatbelt regions it is also beneficial as the tree will reduce

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

, give shade to stock, act as a windbreak and reduce

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

References