''Eucalyptus morrisii'', commonly known as grey mallee, is a species of mallee or straggly 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 western New South Wales. It has rough, fibrous or flaky bark on some or all of the trunk, smooth greyish bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of three, white flowers and conical or hemispherical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus morrisii'' is a mallee, sometimes a straggly 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 rough, fibrous or flaky, sometimes compacted, dark grey bark on part or all of the trunk, smooth greyish bark above. 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 linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves that are dull green, long and wide on a short petiole. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, the same shade of dull, greyish green on both sides, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

s, usually in groups of three, on a 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, yellow or cream-coloured, long and about wide with a conical operculum. Flowering occurs in December and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody conical or hemispherical capsule long and wide with the valves protruding above the rim.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus morrisii'' was first described in 1900 by

Richard Thomas Baker Richard Thomas Baker (1 December 1854 – 14 July 1941) was an Australian economic botanist, museum curator and educator. Early life Baker was born in Woolwich, England, son of Richard Thomas Baker, a blacksmith, and his wife Sarah, née Colkett. ...

in ''

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales ( Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society suc ...

'' from specimens collected "near Girilambone, on stony or rocky hills". It was first collected by

William Baeuerlen William Baeuerlen was a German botanical collector and explorer. He was born in Niedernhall as Leonhard Carl Wilhelm Bäuerlen. He became Ferdinand von Mueller's botanical collector in Australia from the 1880s, and later the collector for Josep ...

, (previously known as Wilhelm Bäuerlen). 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 ...

honours "R. N. Morris, LL.D., the present Superintendent of Technical Education in New South Wales, in acknowledgment of his co-operation in our work on the economies of the genus Eucalyptus".

Distribution and habitat

Grey mallee is usually found in low mallee communities, growing on shallow soil on stony hills. It occurs in the area between Bourke,

Nyngan Nyngan () is a town in the centre of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bogan Shire local government area within the Orana Region of central New South Wales. At the 2016 census, Nyngan had a population of 1,988 people. Nyngan is situated on the ...

and

Cobar Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Hig ...

in central-western New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7212976 morrisii Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1900 Taxa named by Richard Thomas Baker