''Eucalyptus burgessiana'', commonly known as the Faulconbridge mallee ash, is a small tree or mallee that is endemic to New South Wales. It has smooth bark, narrow lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and barrel-shaped or cup-shaped flowers. Eucalyptus burgessiana fruit

Description

''Eucalyptus burgessiana'' is a mallee or a small tree that typically grows to and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth grey, pink, orange, pale brown or grey bark. Young plants and coppice regrowth are densely warty on the lower stem and have leaves that are glossy and bright green on both sides. The young leaves are broadly lance-shaped up to long, wide and have a petiole. Adult leaves are narrow lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven, nine or eleven on an unbranched

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 flowers 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 flower buds are oval long and wide with a conical to rounded operculum, sometimes with a small point on the tip. Flowering mainly occurs between August and December and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody barrel-shaped, cup-shaped or urn-shaped capsule long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus burgessiana'' was first formally described in 1972 by Lawrie Johnson and Donald Blaxell from a specimen in

Faulconbridge Faulconbridge is a village located in the Blue Mountains 77 km west of Sydney, New South Wales and is 450 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Faulconbridge had a population of 4,025 people. History and description The Faulconbrid ...

. The description was published in '' Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium''. 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 ...

(''burgessiana'') honours Colin Burgess (1907–1987) who was knowledgeable about the flora of the Blue Mountains.

Distribution and habitat

Faulconbridge mallee ash grows in mallee shrubland between Springwood, Faulconbridge and Jervis Bay.

References

* A Field Guide to Eucalypts - Brooker & Kleinig volume 1, page 99 {{Taxonbar, from=Q13634376 burgessiana Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Mallees (habit) Plants described in 1972 Taxa named by Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson