''Eucalyptus scias'', known as the large-fruited red mahogany, is a species of small, straggly 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 the high rainfall coastal areas of New South Wales. It has rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white flowers and cup-shaped, conical or bell-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus scias'' is a straggly tree but one that sometimes grows to a height of , and forms a lignotuber. It has fibrous grey or brown bark in long slabs with shallow longitudinal furrows. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull green leaves that are paler on the lower surface, broadly lance-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves are glossy green but paler on the lower surface, lance-shaped to broadly lance-shaped or curved, 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 three or seven on an unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds

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 ...

or 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 ...

up to long. Mature buds are oval to spindle-shaped or diamond-shaped, long and wide with a conical to beaked operculum. Flowering has been recorded from January to February and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, conical or bell-shaped capsule long and wide with two ribs on the sides and the valves protruding prominently.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus scias'' was first formally described in 1990 by Lawrie Johnson and Ken Hill in the journal '' Telopea'' from specimens collected by Ian Brooker in

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the northern side of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The park is north of the Sydney central business district and generally comprises the land east of the M1 Pacific Motorway, sout ...

in 1971. 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 ...

(''scias'') is 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 ...

''skias'' meaning "a shade", referring to the broad-leaved crown of this species. In the same journal, Johnson and Hill described three subspecies, ''apoda'', ''callimastha'' and ''scias''. Two of the subspecies have been 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 ...

: * ''Eucalyptus scias'' subsp. ''apoda'' L.A.S.Johnson & K.D.Hill, is commonly known as the Tenterfield red mahogany and is usually a poorly-formed tree with flower buds in groups of three; * ''Eucalyptus scias'' L.A.S.Johnson & K.D.Hillsubsp. ''scias'' L.A.S.Johnson & K.D.Hill is a medium-sized tree that has flower buds in groups of seven.

Distribution and habitat

The large-fruited red mahogany grows in forests on soils of medium fertility. Subspecies ''apoda'' grows on soils derived from granite on the ranges east of Tenterfield. Subspecies ''scias'' is mainly found in near-coastal areas between Cessnock and

Narooma Narooma is a town in the Australian state of New South Wales on the far south coast. The town is on the Princes Highway, which crosses the Wagonga Inlet to North Narooma. The heritage town of Central Tilba is nearby to the south. The name Naro ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405709 scias Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Plants described in 1990