Eucalyptus uncinata - Flickr - Kevin Thiele

''Eucalyptus uncinata'', commonly known as the hook-leaved mallee, is a species of 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 the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of nine to thirteen, creamy white flowers and barrel-shaped to oval or cylindrical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus uncinata'' is 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 smooth grey to light brown bark that is shed in short, curly strips, and sometimes a short stocking of fibrous bark near the base. 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 leaves in opposite pairs joined at their bases, each half-leaf egg-shaped to round, long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, narrow lance-shaped to lance-shaped, 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 in groups of nine, eleven or thirteen on a flattened, 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, and wide with a conical or rounded operculum about the same length as the

floral cup In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...

. Flowering occurs between January and April and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody barrel-shaped, oval or cylindrical capsule and wide with the valves below rim level.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus uncinata'' was first formally described by the

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Nikolai Turczaninow Nikolai Stepanovich Turczaninow ( ru , Николай Степанович Турчанинов, 1796 in Nikitovka, now in Krasnogvardeysky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia – 1863 in Kharkov) was a Russian botanist and plant collector who ...

in 1849 in the journal ''Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou'' from specimens collected by James Drummond. 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 ...

(''uncinata'') 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 ...

word ''uncinatus'' meaning "barbed" or "hooked", referring to the fine tip of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

Hook-leaved mallee is found on coastal and sub-coastal sand plains and low hills between

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, the

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

, Salmon Gums and

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia. Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Grea ...

, growing mostly in open shrubland. The species is associated with the western mallee subgroup which is characterised by several eucalypts including ''

Eucalyptus oleosa ''Eucalyptus oleosa'', commonly known as the red mallee, glossy-leaved red mallee, acorn mallee, oil mallee or giant mallee, is a tree or mallee that is native to Australia. The leaves were once harvested for the production of cineole based e ...

'', ''

Eucalyptus moderata ''Eucalyptus moderata'' is a species of tree or a mallee that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has rough, hard, fibrous bark on some or all of the trunk, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of seven, pale ...

'', ''

Eucalyptus incrassata ''Eucalyptus incrassata'', commonly known as the lerp mallee, yellow mallee, ridge fruited mallee or rib fruited mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to southern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough, ribbony bark near ...

'', ''

Eucalyptus foecunda ''Eucalyptus foecunda'', commonly known as narrow-leaved red mallee, Fremantle mallee or coastal dune mallee, is a species of plant in the myrtle family that is endemic to Western Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk, smooth bark above, nar ...

'', ''

Eucalyptus redunca ''Eucalyptus redunca'', commonly known as black marlock, is a species of mallee or a shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, lemon-coloured flo ...

'' and ''

Eucalyptus eremophila ''Eucalyptus eremophila'', commonly known as the sand mallet or tall sand mallee, is a species of Mallet (habit), mallet that is Endemism, endemic to semi-arid regions of Western Australia. It has smooth pale brown and greyish bark, narrow lance- ...

''. The understorey is predominantly shrubby with species of ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

'' and ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' along with the occasional '' Triodia''.

Conservation status

This eucalypt is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15356521 uncinata Endemic flora of Western Australia Mallees (habit) Myrtales of Australia Eucalypts of Western Australia Goldfields-Esperance Great Southern (Western Australia) Wheatbelt (Western Australia) Plants described in 1849 Taxa named by Nikolai Turczaninow

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Conservation status

See also

References