''Eucalyptus semota'', commonly known as marymia mallee,
is a species of
mallee or small tree that is
endemic to a small area in central Western Australia. It has rough, flaky to fibrous bark on the trunk, smooth grey or brown bark above, linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers and conical to cup-shaped fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus semota'' is a tree or mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a
lignotuber. It has rough, flaky to fibrous, grey to black bark on some or all of the trunk, smooth grey to brown bark above. Young plants and
coppice regrowth have stems that are square in cross-section and dull greyish green, narrow lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy dark green on both sides, linear 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 or nine on a flattened
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 cylindrical to oval, long and wide with a conical to flattened hemispherical
operculum. The flowers are white and the fruit is a woody, conical to cup-shaped
capsule long and wide with the valves below rim level.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus semota'' was first described in 1996 by
Carol J. Macpherson and
Peter M. Grayling from specimens collected by Macpherson near Marymia Hill north east of
Kumarina.
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 ...
(''semota'') is from the
Latin word ''semotus'' meaning "remote", referring to the geographic isolation of this species from its near relatives in the series ''Loxophlebae''.
Distribution and habitat
Marymia mallee is known from three separate population between Marymia Hill and Kumarina where it grows in clay soils in gullies.
Conservation status
This eucalypt is classified as "
Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia
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 ...
,
meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk.
In 2019 the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature listed ''E.semota as a
vulnerable species noting that only 1,700 individuals remain spread over three locations.
See also
*
List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355473
Eucalypts of Western Australia
semota
Myrtales of Australia
Plants described in 1996