''Eucalyptus leptophylla'', commonly known as the March mallee, slender-leaved red mallee or narrow-leaved red 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 inland Australia. It has smooth greyish bark, linear to narrow lance-shaped, oblong or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and thirteen, creamy white flowers and cup-shaped, barrel-shaped or hemispherical fruit. Eucalyptus leptophylla buds

Description

''Eucalyptus leptophylla'' 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, grey, to cream or coppery bark that is shed in short ribbons or long strips, sometimes persistent on the lower 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

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, oblong to lance-shaped leaves that are mostly arranged in opposite pairs, long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same glossy green on both sides, linear to narrow lance-shaped, oblong or curved, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are borne in leaf axils in groups of between seven and thirteen on a cylindrical, 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 ...

up to long. Mature buds are oval to spindle-shaped, long and about wide with a conical operculum long. Flowering occurs mainly between November and March and the fruit is a woody cup-shaped, barrel-shaped or hemispherical capsule long wide.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus leptophylla'' was first formally described in 1856 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 ...

Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel (24 October 1811 – 23 January 1871) was a Dutch botanist, whose main focus of study was on the flora of the Dutch East Indies. Early life Miquel was born in Neuenhaus and studied medicine at the University of Groni ...

from an unpublished description by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

of a specimen collected by

Hans Hermann Behr Hans Hermann Behr (August 18, 1818, Köthen (Anhalt), Köthen – March 6, 1904, San Francisco) was a German Americans, German-American Physician, doctor, entomologist and botanist. At the time of his death, the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' r ...

. The description was published in a paper entitled ''Stirpes Novo-Hollandas a Ferd Mullero collectas determinavit'' in the journal ''Nederlandsch kruidkundig archief''. 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 ...

(''leptophylla'') is derived from the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

words ''leptos'' (λεπτός), meaning "thin" or "slender" and ''phyllon'' (φύλλον), meaning "leaf".Backer, C.A. (1936). ''Verklarend woordenboek der wetenschappelijke namen van de in Nederland en Nederlandsch-Indië in het wild groeiende en in tuinen en parken gekweekte varens en hoogere planten'' (Edition Nicoline van der Sijs). The name ''

Eucalyptus foecunda ''Eucalyptus foecunda'', commonly known as narrow-leaved red mallee, Fremantle mallee or coastal dune mallee, is a species of plant in the myrtle family that is endemic to Western Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk, smooth bark above, nar ...

'' is often misapplied to this species, but ''E. foecunda'' only occurs in coastal areas of south-western Western Australia and has rougher bark.

Distribution

''Eucalyptus leptophylla'' is found in low woodland a mallee scrubland growing in white, yellow or red sand or red-brown loam over gravel or granite. It is also found on rises, sometimes around salt lakes, on sand plains and near granite outcrops. It is distributed through southern Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions 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 ...

, through south-eastern

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 ...

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 in

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 ...

from

Wilcannia Wilcannia is a small town located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales, Australia. Located on the Darling River, the town was the third largest inland port in the country during the river boat era of the mid-19th ce ...

West Wyalong West Wyalong is the main town of the Bland Shire in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Located west of Sydney and above sea level, it is situated on the crossroads of the Newell Highway between Melbourne and Brisbane, and the ...

Use in horticulture

''E. leptophylla'' is sold commercially in seed form or as seedlings. It grows at a moderate rate, prefers a full sun position and will grow in sandy and

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

soils. The plant is suitable as an ornamental tree, and also makes a good screen or windbreak. It will attract pollinating birds and is

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 ...

resistant.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17593240 leptophylla Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Eucalypts of Western Australia Plants described in 1856 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

Use in horticulture

See also

References