''Eucalyptus virens'', commonly known as the shiny-leaved ironbark,
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 elsew ...
to Queensland. It has hard
ironbark on the trunk and branches, narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and hemispherical fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus virens'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a
lignotuber. It has rough, grey to black, furrowed ironbark on its trunk and branches. 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, narrow lance-shaped, long and wide, tapering to a
petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets in groups of seven on a branched
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, long and wide with a conical to rounded
operculum. Flowering has been recorded in February and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, hemispherical
capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus virens'' was first formally described in 1987 by
Ian Brooker and
Anthony Bean
Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants.
Care ...
in the journal ''
Brunonia
''Brunonia australis'', commonly known as the blue pincushion or native cornflower, is a perennial or annual herb that grows widely across Australia. It is found in woodlands, open forest and sand plains. In Cronquist's classification scheme ...
'' from specimens collected near
Injune
Injune is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Injune had a population of 461 people.
Geography
Injune is a small town in South West Queensland. I ...
in 1975.
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 ...
(''virens'') is a
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 meaning "green", referring to the bright green leaves.
Distribution and habitat
The shiny-leaved ironbark grows in open forest on sandy soil on flats and undulating country. It is only known from three small populations near the
Maranoa River,
Tara and
Inglewood in south-eastern Queensland.
Conservation status
This eucalypt is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government ''
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and the Queensland Government ''
Nature Conservation Act 1992
The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota.
As originally published, it prov ...
''. The main threats to the species are timber harvesting and habitat loss due to land clearing.
See also
*
List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15356612
Trees of Australia
virens
Myrtales of Australia
Flora of Queensland
Taxa named by Ian Brooker
Plants described in 1987
Endemic flora of Queensland
Taxa named by Anthony Bean