''Eucalyptus clelandiorum'', commonly known as Cleland's blackbutt is a species of

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...

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 the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

region of

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 has hard, black, crumbly bark on the lower half of its trunk, smooth bark above, narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of seven, nine or eleven, white flowers and cup-shaped fruit. Eucalyptus clelandiorum buds

Description

''Eucalyptus clelandiorum'' is a mallet that typically grows to a height of and does not form 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 hard, black, crumbly bark on about the lower half of the trunk, and smooth pale grey to pinkish bark above. The leaves on young plants and on

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 are

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped, up to long and wide. The adult leaves are the same dull greyish green or glaucous on both sides, narrow lance-shaped, long and wide. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven, nine or eleven 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 on a peduncle long, the individual buds on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long. Mature buds are oval, long and wide and glaucous with a beaked operculum long. Flowering mainly occurs from August to November and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped capsule long and wide on a pedicel long.

Taxonomy

Cleland's blackbutt was first formally described in 1911 by

Joseph Maiden Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...

who gave it the name ''Eucalyptus goniantha'' var. ''clelandiorum'' and published the description in the ''Journal of the Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia''. In 1912, Maiden raised the variety to species status in his book ''A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus''. 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 ...

(''clelandiorum'') honours "Mr. A.F. Cleland, Civil Engineer of Kurrawang" and his nephew, " Dr. J. Burton Cleland". (Maiden published the name as ''Eucalyptus clelandi'' but indicated that the name honoured two men. The name is therefore corrected to ''Eucalyptus clelandiorum'', in accordance with Article 60.8 of the Shenzhen Code.)

Distribution

''Eucalyptus clelandiorum'' mostly grows in open woodland from east of Cue to near Lake Biddy in the

Avon Wheatbelt The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion. Geography The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low reli ...

, Coolgardie,

Great Victoria Desert The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia. History In 1875, British-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cross th ...

, Murchison and Yalgoo biogeographic regions of Western Australia.

Conservation status

This mallet is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q65066343, from2=Q5405561 clelandiorum Endemic flora of Western Australia Mallees (habit) Myrtales of Australia Eucalypts of Western Australia Plants described in 1911 Taxa named by Joseph Maiden

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

Conservation status

See also

References