![Eucalyptus staeri buds](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Eucalyptus_staeri_buds.jpg)
![Eucalyptus staeri fruit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Eucalyptus_staeri_fruit.jpg)
''Eucalyptus staeri'', commonly known as Albany blackbutt,
is a species of small tree or a
mallee and 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 else ...
to the
south-west corner of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. It has rough bark on the trunk and branches, thick, lance-shaped adult leaves, flowers buds in groups of between seven and fifteen, creamy white flowers and shortened spherical fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus staeri'' is a tree or a mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms 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, fibrous, fissured, greyish brown bark on the trunk and branches thicker than about . 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 repeate ...
regrowth have stems that are square in cross-section and leaves that are a lighter shade of green on the lower side, egg-shaped to broadly lance-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped, long and wide on a
petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf
axils in groups of between seven and fifteen 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 cylindrical to spindle-shaped, long and wide with a conical
operculum. Flowering occurs from August or October to December or January or April and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody, shortened spherical
capsule long and wide with the valves below rim level.
Taxonomy and naming
Albany blackbutt was first formally described in 1914 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 ...
in the ''
Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales'' and given the name ''Eucalyptus marginata'' var. ''staeri''.
In 1924
Stephen Lackey Kessell and
Charles Gardner raised the variety to species status as ''Eucalyptus staeri''.
The
specific epithet (''staeri'') honours John Staer (1850-1933) who collected the
type specimens.
Distribution and habitat
''Eucalyptus staeri'' is found mostly in the south west corner of the
Great Southern region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
centred around the town of
Albany with smaller populations extending north into the
Wheatbelt. The preferred habitat is sandy soil in near-coastal scrubland.
Conservation status
This eucalypt is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government
Department of Parks and Wildlife.
See also
*
List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15356255
staeri
Myrtales of Australia
Endemic flora of Southwest Australia
Eucalypts of Western Australia
Plants described in 1914
Taxa named by Joseph Maiden