''Eucalyptus nitida'', commonly known as the Smithton peppermint, is a species of tree or 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 else ...

to Tasmania. It has varying amounts of loose, fibrous or flaky bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of nine to fifteen, white flowers and cup-shaped to hemispherical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus nitida'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of , or a mallee to , and it 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 cream-coloured to greyish bark but older or larger specimens have rough, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and sometimes the larger branches. 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

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 ...

leaves that are lance-shaped to elliptical, long and wide arranged in opposite pairs and stem-clasping. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of glossy green on both sides, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of between nine and fifteen on an unbranched peduncle 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 club-shaped, long and wide with a rounded to conical operculum. Flowering occurs from November to January and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped, hemispherical or conical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus nitida'' was first formally described in 1856 by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

in his book, ''The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror. III. Flora Tasmaniae''. The specific epithet (''nitida'') 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 ...

''nitidus'' meaning "shining", referring to the leaves of this species.

Distribution and habitat

Smithton peppermint is widespread in northern, western and southern Tasmania and also occurs on some Bass Strait Islands. It grows in forest from sea level to hills and plateaus, sometimes as a mallee in coastal sand dunes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2611082 Trees of Australia Flora of Tasmania nitida Plants described in 1856 Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker