''Eucalyptus stricta'', commonly known as Blue Mountains mallee ash, is a mallee 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 eastern New South Wales. It has smooth, mottled bark, often with insect scribbles, linear to lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and urn-shaped to barrel-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus stricta'' is a mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth, mottled pale grey brown and pink bark, often with insect scribbles. Young plants and coppice regrowth have glossy green, lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, linear to lance-shaped, long and wide, the base 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 on an unbranched

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 oval to pear-shaped, long and wide with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering has been observed in most months and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody urn-shaped to barrel-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level or below it.A Field Guide to Eucalypts - Brooker & Kleinig volume 1, page 100

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus stricta'' was first formally described in 1827 by Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel from an unpublished description by Franz Sieber. Sprengel's description was published in his book ''

Systema Vegetabilium ''Systema Vegetabilium'' (abbreviated as Syst. Veg.) is a book published in four editions, following twelve earlier editions known as '' Systema Naturae''. The first edition, published in 1774 and edited by Johan Andreas Murray is counted as editi ...

''. 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 ...

(''stricta'') is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''strictus'' meaning"drawn together", "upright" or "straight", possibly referring to the many stems of this mallee.

Distribution and habitat

Blue Mountains mallee ash has a scattered distribution from the Central Coast and through the Blue Mountains to the

Budawangs The Budawang Range, commonly called The Budawangs, a rugged mountain range within the Budawang National Park and the Morton National Park, are part of a spur off the Great Dividing Range and are located in the South Coast region of New South Wa ...

and is locally common. It grows in heath and shrubland in shallow, sandy soils on plateaus and ridge-tops.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4529695 stricta Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Mallees (habit) Plants described in 1827