''Eucalyptus sieberi'', commonly known as the silvertop ash or black ash, is a species of medium-sized to tall 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 south-eastern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and the base of larger branches, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven to fifteen, white flowers and barrel-shaped or conical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus sieberi'' 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 bark on the trunk and the larger branches, smooth, white to yellow bark above. The rough bark is thin and flaky on younger trees, but becomes thick and dark grey to black and furrowed with age. Young plants have egg-shaped to lance-shaped or curved, bluish green to

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 ...

leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on 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 between seven and fifteen on an 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 club-shaped, long and wide with a rounded or flattened operculum. Flowering occurs from September to January and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody barrel-shaped or conical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus sieberi'' was first formally described in 1962 by

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 ...

in ''Contributions from the New South Wales Herbarium'' from specimens collected by

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 ...

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

in 1899. 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 ...

(''sieberi'') honours the Czech botanist

Franz Sieber Franz Wilhelm Sieber (30 March 1789 – 17 December 1844), was a botanist and collector who travelled to Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa and Australia. Early life Franz Sieber was born in Prague, Bohemia on 30 March 1789. After 5 ...

Distribution and habitat

Silvertop ash grows in forest and woodland, often in pure stands, on shallows soils of low to medium fertility. It is found from south-eastern Queensland through the western slopes and plains of New South Wales, the eastern side of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

in Victoria to north-eastern Tasmania.

Uses

The timber is used in general construction, flooring, decking, handles and

woodchipping Woodchips are small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood such as trees, branches, logging residues, stumps, roots, and wood waste. Woodchips may be used as a biomass solid fuel and are raw material ...

. One of the major species being converted to wood chips at Eden for export for writing paper production.

Gallery

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405714 sieberi Flora of New South Wales Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Plants described in 1962