''Eucalyptus exilipes'', commonly known as the fine-leaved ironbark,
is a species of medium to tall tree and 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 dark grey or black "
ironbark
Ironbark is a common name of a number of species in three taxonomic groups within the genus ''Eucalyptus'' that have dark, deeply furrowed bark.
Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of ''Eucalyptus'', the dead bark accu ...
", linear to narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to shortened spherical fruit. It is similar to ''
E. crebra'', differing only in the length of the
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 ...
.
Description
''Eucalyptus exilipes'' 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 rough, dark grey to black ironbark. 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
petiolate, dull greyish, linear leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are linear to narrow lance-shaped, long and wide on 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 long, the individual buds on a pedicel long. Mature buds are oval to spindle-shaped, long and wide with a conical
operculum. Flowering occurs in July and August and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped to shortened spherical
capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level. This species is very similar to ''E. crebra'', differing only slightly in the dimensions of the pedicels.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus exilipes'' was first formally described in 1987 by
Ian Brooker
Murray Ian Hill Brooker AM (2 June 1934 – 25 June 2016), better known as Ian Brooker, was an Australian botanist. He was widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus ''Eucalyptus''.
Ian Brooker was born in Adelaide, South Australi ...
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 ...
from a specimen they collected in the
White Mountains in 1985. The description was published 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 ...
''.
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 ...
(''exilipes'') is derived 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 ''exilis'' meaning "slender", "thin" or "small"
and 'pes' meaning "stem",
and refers to the slender pedicels of this species.
Distributiont
The fine-leaved ironbark is only known from a few locations in north Queensland, including the White Mountains,
Blackbraes National Park
Blackbraes is a national park in Shire of Etheridge of Far North Queensland, Australia.
Geography
The park is 1265 km northwest of Brisbane, 170 km north of Hughenden, and 280 km west of Townsville. Two small sections are also ...
and north of
Cooktown
Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...
.
Conservation status
''Eucalyptus exilipes'' is classified as "least concern" under 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 ...
.
See also
*
List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15396008
Trees of Australia
exilipes
Myrtales of Australia
Flora of Queensland
Taxa named by Ian Brooker