''Eucalyptus triflora'', commonly known as Pigeon House ash or three-flowered ash, is a species of small 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 a small area of New South Wales. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of three, white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus triflora'' 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 smooth white to cream-coloured bark with insect scribbles, sometimes with rough dark grey bark on the base of older trees. 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 repeated ...

regrowth have glossy green leaves that are paler on the lower surface, lance-shaped or curved, long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped or curved, 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 usually in groups of three 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 ...

. Mature buds are oblong, long and wide with a rounded to conical operculum. Flowering occurs from December to March and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, urn-shaped to barrel-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves at or below rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

Pigeon House ash was first formally described in 1907 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 his book ''The Forest Flora of New South Wales'' from specimens collected from the top of

Pigeon House Mountain Pigeon House Mountain (Indigenous languages of Australia, Aboriginal: ''Didthul'') is a mountain at an elevation of on the Budawang Range that is situated within the Morton National Park, located on the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coas ...

Richard Hind Cambage Richard Hind Cambage (7 November 1859 – 28 November 1928) was an Australian surveyor and botanist who made important contributions to the description of the genera ''Acacia'' and ''Eucalyptus''. Early life Cambage, son of John Fisher Camba ...

. Maiden gave it the name ''Eucalyptus virgata'' var. ''triflora''. In 1934,

William Blakely William Faris Blakely (November 1875 – 1 September 1941) was an Australian botanist and collector. From 1913 to 1940 he worked in the National Herbarium of New South Wales, working with Joseph Maiden on ''Eucalyptus'', Maiden named a ''red g ...

raised the variety to species status as ''Eucalyptus triflora''. 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 ...

(''triflora'') is from

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 ...

words meaning "three" and "flowered".

Distribution and habitt

''Eucalyptus triflora'' usually grows between sandstone boulders in higher areas, sometimes in heath, open forest or woodland. It is found in a few disjunct areas from near

Nerriga Nerriga is a small village in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. It is situated at the edge of Morton National Park, on the Braidwood - Nowra road. The population of Nerriga and the ...

to Pigeon House Mountain, in parts of the

Deua National Park Deua is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney, and east of Canberra. The nearest towns on the coast are Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma. A remote wilderness area of escarpments and gullies, waterfalls, limesto ...

and near Yalwal.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3059463 triflora Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Plants described in 1907