''Eucalyptus panda'', commonly known as tumbledown ironbark or Yetman 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 eastern Australia. It has dark

ironbark Ironbark is a common name of a number of species in three taxonomic groups within the genus ''Eucalyptus'' that have dark, deeply furrowed bark. Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of ''Eucalyptus'', the dead bark accu ...

, linear to lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped or hemispherical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus panda'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to 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 grey to black ironbark from the base of the trunk to the thinnest 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 dull green, lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of dull green on both sides, linear to lance-shaped, long and wide tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven on a branched 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, long and wide with a conical to beaked operculum. Flowering occurs from May to November and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, broadly cup-shaped to hemispherical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus panda'' was first formally described in 1958 by

Stanley Thatcher Blake Stanley Thatcher Blake (1910 – 24 February 1973) was an Australian botanist who served as president of the Royal Society of Queensland and who was associated with the Queensland Herbarium beginning in 1945 until his death. Background Prior ...

from material collected near

Barakula ''Barakula petersonorum'' is a species of beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most oth ...

by Samuel Roscoe Stevens in 1957. 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 ...

(''panda'') is from Latin meaning "bent" or "crooked", possibly referring the habit of this ironbark.

Distribution and habitat

Tumbledown ironbark grows in woodland in sandy soil on plains and low ridges from near the

Carnarvon National Park Carnarvon National Park is located in the Southern Brigalow Belt bioregion in the Maranoa Region in Central Queensland, Australia. The park is 593 km northwest of Brisbane. It began life as a reserve gazetted in 1932 to protect Carnarvon ...

, south to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in Queensland, and just into New South Wales near

Yetman Yetman is a hamlet in the New England region of northern New South Wales, Australia. At the , Yetman and the surrounding area had a population of 178. It is located on the Macintyre River about south of the Queensland border and north of Sy ...

Conservation status

This eucalypt is listed as "listed concern" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15353970

panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white animal coat, coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is ...

Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Trees of Australia Plants described in 1958 Taxa named by Stanley Thatcher Blake