''Eucalyptus melanophloia'', commonly known as silver-leaved ironbark, is a species of tree 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 northeastern Australia. It is a small to medium-sized tree with rough, hard ironbark on the trunk and branches. The

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

is usually composed of juvenile leaves that are dull,

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''), ...

, sessile and arranged in opposite pairs. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven, the flowers white and the fruit cup-shaped to hemispherical. Eucalyptus melanophloia buds

Description

''Eucalyptus melanophloia'' is a tree, rarely a mallee, 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 hard, rough, dark grey to black bark on the trunk and 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 leaves that are usually glaucous, arranged in opposite pairs, sessile, round to egg-shaped or heart-shaped, long and wide. The crown leaves are usually mostly juvenile leaves that are arranged in opposite pairs, sessile, the same dull glaucous colour on both sides, egg-shaped to heart-shaped or lance-shaped, long and wide. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of the branchlets in groups of seven on a branching peduncle long. The individual buds are 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 oval to diamond-shaped, long and wide with a conical operculum. Flowering has been recorded in January and February, and from June to August. The flowers are white and the fruit is a woody, cup-shaped to hemispherical capsule long and wide with the valves near or below rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus melanophloia'' was first formally described in 1859 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

and the description was published in the '' Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany''. 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, bo ...

is derived 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 pe ...

and means "black bark".

Distribution and habitat

The silver-leaved ironbark grows in woodland on plains and tablelands in the eastern half of Queensland south from Mareeba, on the western side of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

in New South Wales north from

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Go ...

and in a few isolated locations in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

Conservation status

This eucalypt 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 pro ...

''.

Gallery

Image:Eucalyptus_melanophloia_-_Silverleaf_Ironbark.jpg, tree Image:Eucalyptus-melanophloia2.jpg, tree Image:Eucalyptus-melanophloia.jpg, leaves Image:Eucalyptus Melanophloia 30 April 09.jpg, bark Image:Eucalyptus melanophloia foliage and flowers.jpg, foliage and flowers.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eucalyptus melanophloia melanophloia Trees of Australia Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of the Northern Territory Drought-tolerant trees Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller