''Eucalyptus tenella'', commonly known as narrow-leaved stringybark, is a species of small 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 else ...

to New South Wales. It has stringy bark, narrow lance-shaped to linear leaves, flower buds in group of seven to fifteen, white flowers and hemispherical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus tenella'' is a tree 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 thick, fibrous, furrowed, stringy bark usually coloured grey over reddish brown. 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 glossy green leaves that a paler on the lower surface, narrow lance-shaped to linear, long and wide. Adult leaves are narrow lance-shaped to linear or curved, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven to fifteen 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, long and wide with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering occurs from September to March and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody spherical or hemispherical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus tenella'' was first formally described in 1991 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 ...

and Ken Hill in the journal '' Telopea'' from specimens Johnson collected near Capertee in 1968. The specific epithet (''tenella'') 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 ...

''tenellus'' meaning "somewhat delicate", referring to the small leaves.

Distribution and habitat

Narrow-leaved stringybark grows in dry woodland in shallow soils between Rylstone and

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in t ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405719 tenella Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Plants described in 1991