''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'', commonly known as yellow gum, blue gum or white ironbark, is a species of small to medium-sized 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 south-eastern continental

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It has smooth yellowish bark with some rough bark near the base, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three and cylindrical, barrel-shaped or shortened spherical fruit. A widely cultivated species, it has white, red or pink flowers. Eucalyptus leucoxylon buds

Description

''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'' 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 ...

. It has smooth white, yellow or bluish-grey bark, usually with of rough fibrous to flaky bark the base 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 leaves mostly arranged in opposite pairs, egg-shaped to broadly lance-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same slightly glossy shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of three in leaf axils 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 diamond-shaped or more or less spherical, long, wide with a conical to rounded or beaked operculum. Flowering has been recorded in most months and the flowers a white, red or pink. The fruit is a woody, cylindrical, barrel-shaped or shortened spherical capsule long, wide with the valves enclosed below rim level. This species is similar to '' E. melliodora'' and ''E. sideroxylon'' subsp. ''sideroxylon'' but differs in having three buds in each group of flowers.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'' was first formally described in 1855 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 ...

in the ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Victorian Institure for the Advancement of Science''. 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 ...

(''leucoxylon'') 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 ...

''leuco-'' meaning "white" and ''-xylon'' meaning "wood".

Subspecies and varieties

The subspecies and varieties accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

(APC) as at September 2019 are: * ''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'' subsp. ''bellarinensis''

Rule Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule perta ...

has fibrous-flaky bark near the base of the trunk, waxy juvenile leaves that have the opposite pairs joined to each other, more or less spherical flower buds and relatively large fruit on a long pedicel; * ''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'' subsp. ''connata'' Rule is similar to the

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

(subsp. ''leucoxylon'') but has more or less spherical, rather than oval, flower buds; * '' Eucalyptus leucoxylon'' F.Muell. ''leucoxylon'' does not have waxy leaves, the juvenile leaves are never joined in pairs, adult leaves less than wide, pedicels equal to or longer than the fruit, and oval flower buds; * ''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'' subsp. ''megalocarpa'' Boland is similar to the autonym but has adult leaves more than wide; * ''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'' var. ''pluriflora''; F.Muell. ex

Miq. 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 ...

* ''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'' subsp. ''pruinosa'' (F.Muell. ex Miq.) Boland has surface wax present on the juvenile leaves, flower buds and fruit, and has white flowers.

Distribution and habitat

This eucalypt species is found in Victoria, south-eastern South Australia and far south-western New South Wales. All six subspecies occur in Victoria. Subspecies ''bellarinensis'' is only known from the

Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peni ...

near Ocean Grove and

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

. Subspecies ''connata'' grows on skeletal soils, mostly in the

Brisbane Ranges The Brisbane Ranges National Park is a national park in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, The national park is situated approximately west of Melbourne near the town of and is managed by Parks Victoria. The park covers par ...

. Subspecies ''leucoxylon'' is the most widespread species and occurs in scattered populations across Victoria and in south-eastern South Australia, including on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

where the tallest specimens are found. Subspecies ''megalocarpa'' is a stunted tree or mallee only found in coastal areas from the far south-east of South Australia to far western Victoria. Subspecies ''pruinosa'' occurs in drier areas of South Australia, the

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Austral ...

and

Goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

of Victoria and on the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

floodplain near Barham in New South Wales.

Uses

Essential oils

The leaves are distilled for the production of

cineole Eucalyptol is a monoterpenoid. A colorless liquid, it is a bicyclic ether. Eucalyptol has a fresh mint-like smell and a spicy, cooling taste. It is insoluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Eucalyptol makes up ~70% - 90% of eucal ...

based

eucalyptus oil Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from the leaf of ''Eucalyptus'', a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native to Australia and cultivated worldwide. Eucalyptus oil has a history of wide application, as a pharmaceutical, ant ...

Use in horticulture

Subspecies ''megalocarpa'' is a relatively small tree with red flowers and large fruit is often available under the horticultural name, ‘Rosea’. It flowers profusely in winter, and is widely planted as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

. 'Euky Dwarf' is grown as a street and garden tree, growing to a height of tall and wide. Subspecies ''leucoxylon'' has been recommended for larger gardens and parklands. A variety known as Euky Dwarf is very popular as a street and garden tree, growing around 5–6m in height. Image:Eucalyptus leucoxylon1.jpg, ''E. leucoxylon'' subsp. ''megalocarpa'' Image:Eucalyptus leucoxylon pruinosa.jpg, waxy leaves of subsp. ''pruinosa''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q161468 leucoxylon Myrtales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1855 Trees of Mediterranean climate Ornamental trees Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller