''Eucalyptus prolixa'', commonly known as the square-fruited mallet,
is a species of
mallet
A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...
that is
endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, glossy green, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and urn-shaped fruit that is square in cross-section.
Description
''Eucalyptus prolixa'' is an erect-stemmed mallet with a steep, branching habit, that typically grows to a height of but does not form a
lignotuber. It has smooth grey and tan bark. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped to narrow lance-shaped, long and wide tapering to 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 in groups of seven on an unbranched
peduncle Peduncle may refer to:
*Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed
*Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body
**Peduncle (art ...
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 oblong, square in cross-section, long and wide with a conical
operculum. Flowering mainly occurs from September to December and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody, narrow urn-shaped
capsule that is long, wide and square in cross-section with the valves enclosed below the rim.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus prolixa'' was first formally described in 2000 by
Dean Nicolle
270px, Dean Nicolle and '' Eucalyptus deanei''
Dean Nicolle (born 1974), is an Australian botanist, arborist and ecologist. He is widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus ''Eucalyptus''.
Nicolle was born in Adelaide, South Austr ...
in the journal ''
Nuytsia'' from material collected near the Daniell railway siding, north of
Salmon Gums
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus ''Oncorhynch ...
.
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 ...
(''prolixa'') is from the Latin ''prolixus'' meaning "stretched out", referring to the fruit and also the slender habit of this species.
Distribution and habitat
The square-fruited mallet is found between
Kondinin,
Coolgardie,
Norseman
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
and Salmon Gums on flat and undulating country.
Conservation status
This eucalypt is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government
Department of Parks and Wildlife
The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...
,
See also
*
List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15354605
Eucalypts of Western Australia
prolixa
Myrtales of Australia
Plants described in 2000