''Eucalyptus pyrocarpa'', commonly known as the large-fruited blackbutt, is a species of 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 New South Wales. It has rough bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth grey to white bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and cup-shaped, barrel-shaped or pear-shaped fruit. Eucalyptus pyrocarpa fruit

Description

''Eucalyptus pyrocarpa'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of but does not form 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, short fibrous to stringy, greyish brown bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth white to grey bark above that is often shed in ribbons. 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 stems that are more or less square in cross-section,

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

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 ...

and arranged in opposite pairs. The juvenile leaves are lance-shaped, a lighter shade of green on the lower side, long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven, nine or eleven on a flattened, 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 spindle-shaped or diamond-shaped, long and wide with a conical to beaked operculum. Flowering has been recorded in March, February and August and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, barrel-shaped or pear-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level or enclosed below it.

Taxonomy and naming

In 1913,

Joseph Maiden Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...

described ''Eucalyptus pilularis'' var. ''pyriformis'' from a specimen collected from Bucca Creek, near

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

. The description was published in '' Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales''. In 1973,

Lawrie Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic botany, botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Garden ...

and

Donald Blaxell Donald Frederick Blaxell (born 1 February 1934, Sydney, New South Wales), is an Australian botanist, botanical collector and taxonomist. Blaxell worked at the University of New South Wales for 11 years and joined the New south Wales Herbarium in ...

raised the variety to species status but the name ''

Eucalyptus pyriformis ''Eucalyptus pyriformis'', commonly known as pear-fruited mallee or Dowerin rose, is a species of low, straggly mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth greyish brown bark sometimes with ribbony bark near the base, egg-shaped t ...

'' was already used for a Western Australian species. Johnson and Blaxell gave it the name ''E. pyrocarpa''.

Distribution and habitat

Large-fruited blackbutt grows in forest on sloping country in coastal and sub-coastal ranges between the

Washpool National Park The Washpool National Park is a protected national park located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The park is situated approximately north of Sydney, inland from . The park has two campgrounds and is managed by the NSW N ...

, Wauchope and Woodburn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eucalyptus pyrocarpa pyrocarpa Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Plants described in 1973 Taxa named by Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson