''Eucalyptus platydisca'', also known as Jimberlana mallee, is a species of eucalypt native to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is listed as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" under the Western Australian Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016'' and as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

''.

Description

The mallee typically grows to a height of approximately and has smooth mottled grey bark. The erect, multistemmed tree is able to resprout from its

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 ...

after fire. The stiff, narrow and dull grey-green adult leaves form an open crown. The diamond shaped buds are found in the leaf axils of leaves in groups of seven. Each bud is in length and wide with white flowers. The cup-shaped fruit that form later have a flattish top and a width of .

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus platydisca'' was first described in 1998 by

Lawrie Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic botany, botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Garden ...

and Ken Hill in an unpublished manuscript, from material collected on Jimberlana Hill north-west of Norseman. In 2006, the description was formally published 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

Dean Nicolle 270px, Dean Nicolle and '' Eucalyptus deanei'' Dean Nicolle (born 1974), is an Australian botanist, arborist and ecologist. He is widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus ''Eucalyptus''. Nicolle was born in Adelaide, South Austr ...

in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. The specific epithet (''platydisca'') is from

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

meaning "wide", "broad" or "flat" and the Latin ''discus'' meaning "disc", referring to the wide rim of the fruit. The species is part of the ''Eucalyptus'' subgenus series ''Diversiformae'', a group of mallees that all have adult leaves held erect, buds with a single unscarred operculum and pyramidal seeds. The other species in this series include '' E. erectifolia'', '' E. diversifolia'', '' E. todtiana'', '' E. lateritica'', '' E. pachyloma'' and '' E. buprestium''.

Distribution and habitat

Jimberlana mallee is found on stony hills in a small area of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia just east of Norseman where it grows in clay-loam and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

soils. It is only found on two granite hills; Jimberlana Hill and Mount Norcott with around 200 individuals on Jimberlana and more on Mt Northcott. The soil is poorly developed reddish sandy loam stony soils between large boulders are part of an open mallee community along with ''

Eucalyptus longissima ''Eucalyptus longissima'' is a species of mallee or small tree that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has rough, fibrous or stringy bark on the trunk, smooth greyish brown bark above, glossy green, lance-shaped adult leaves, ...

'', '' E. griffithsii'' and '' Triodia'' hummock grasses.

Conservation status

''Eucalyptus platydisca'' is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the

Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was formed on 1 July 2006 ...

. The main threats to the species are its small population size, mining activities and unauthorised collection of flowers and fruit.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15354441 platydisca Eucalypts of Western Australia Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 2006 Taxa named by Ian Brooker