''Corymbia jacobsiana'', commonly known as Jacob's bloodwood or stringybark bloodwood, is a species of tree 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 the Northern Territory. It has rough, stringy bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped to elliptical or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, creamy white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.

Description

''Corymibia jacobsiana'' is a tree 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 ...

and

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s. It has rough, stringy, yellow-brown to grey-brown bark on the trunk and branches. 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 hairy, glossy dark green leaves that are paler on the lower surface, arranged in opposite pairs, linear, long and wide on a short petiole. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, glossy dark green above, much paler on the lower surface, lance-shaped to elliptical or curved, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets on a branched peduncle long, each branch of the peduncle with three or seven 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 to pear-shaped or spherical, about long and wide with a rounded to conical or beaked operculum. The tree is thought to flower between February and April and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody urn-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves enclosed in the fruit. The seeds are flattened, dull to semi-glossy and red or red-brown and saucer-shaped. ''Corymbia jacobsiana'' has no close relatives. It is solated from all other bloodwoods by the combination of rough stringybark and sparsely hairy juvenile leaves, carpeted on the underside with white hairs.

Taxonomy and naming

Jacob's bloodwood was first formally described by the botanist

William Blakely William Faris Blakely (November 1875 – 1 September 1941) was an Australian botanist and collector. From 1913 to 1940 he worked in the National Herbarium of New South Wales, working with Joseph Maiden on ''Eucalyptus'', Maiden named a ''red g ...

in 1934 in his book, ''A Key to the Eucalypts'' and given the name ''Eucalyptus jacobsiana''. The type specimens were collected by "Dr. M. R. Jacobs" north of Pine Creek in 1933. Jacobs was a distinguished forester and the Principal of the Australian Forestry School in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

from 1945 to 1961. Botanists Ken Hill and Lawrie Johnson were the first to define the genus ''Corymbia'' in 1995, identifying the bloodwoods, ghost gums and spotted gums as a group distinct from ''Eucalyptus''. They changed the name of this species to ''Corymbia jacobsiana''.

Distribution

''Corymbia jacobsiana'' occurs throughout the

top end The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

of 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 ...

, usually in monsoonal woodland areas and usually as part of a tropical savannah woodland mix with eucalypts and

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

, growing in sand or clay soils or in dissected

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. It has an erratic distribution around Pine Creek,

Tipperary Station Tipperary Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station. It is located about east of Daly River and south of Adelaide River, Northern Territory, Australia. Composed primarily of open grazing land the property occupies an area ...

and further east in

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

, often found with ''

Corymbia arnhemensis ''Corymbia arnhemensis'', commonly known as Katherine Gorge bloodwood, is a species of slender tree that is endemic to the Top End of the Northern Territory. It has rough bark on some or all of the trunk, sometimes the larger branches, smooth ba ...

'' and '' C. nesophila''. The plant's rhizomes allow it to form dense clones following fires, and that later thin out to form woodlands.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15396232 jacobsiana Myrtales of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Plants described in 1934

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution

See also

References