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''Eucalyptus lateritica'', commonly known as laterite 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 a small area in the south-west of 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 ...
. It has rough bark on the lower half of the trunk, smooth grey bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of nine or eleven, white flowers and shortened spherical fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus lateritica'' is a mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms alignotuber
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 greyish brown bark, usually with rough, corky bark on the lower half 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 elliptic to lance-shaped leaves that are long, wide and have a petiole. Adult leaves are the same slightly 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 nine or eleven 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 oval to broadly spindle-shaped, long and wide with a conical operculum. Flowering occurs between August and October and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, shortened spherical capsule long and wide with the valves at or below the level of the rim.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus lateritica'' was first formally described in 1986 by the botanistsIan 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 Stephen Hopper
Stephen Donald Hopper AC FLS FTSE (born 18 June 1951) is a Western Australian botanist. He graduated in Biology, specialising in conservation biology and vascular plants. Hopper has written eight books, and has over 200 publications to his n ...
from a specimen collected by Hopper near Mount Lesueur
Mount Lesueur is a near-circular, flat-topped mesa located from Jurien Bay in Western Australia. It rises above the surrounding lateritic plain of Lesueur National Park which has eroded away around it.
Mount Lesueur was first sighted and nam ...
and the description was published 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 ...
''. 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 ...
(''lateritica'') is derived from the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''lateritius'' meaning "brick-red", referring to the lateritic gravel which dominated the area where this species grows.
The species is part of the subgenus ''Eucalyptus'' series ''Diversiformae'', a group of mallee species that all have adult leaves held erect, buds with a single unscarred operculum and pyramidal seeds. The other species in this series include '' E. erectifolia'', '' E. platydisca'', '' E. diversifolia'', '' E. todtiana'', '' E. pachyloma'', '' E. dolorosa'' and '' E. buprestium''.
Distribution and habitat
Laterite mallee is found on breakaways and mesas in the Badgingarra - Mount Lesueur area where it grows in sandy-gravellylateritic
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 ...
soils.
Conservation status
This mallee is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...
'' and as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia)
The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was formed on 1 July 2006 ...
. The main potential threats to the species include susceptibility to disease caused by ''Phytophthora cinnamomi
''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "root rot", "dieback", or (in certain '' Castanea'' species), "ink disease". The plant pathogen is one of the wo ...
'', fire, insect damage, grazing, weeds and mining activities.
See also
* List of ''Eucalyptus'' speciesReferences
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15397540 Eucalypts of Western Australia lateritica Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1986 Taxa named by Ian Brooker Taxa named by Stephen Hopper