''Eucalyptus microcarpa'', commonly known as grey box, 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 southeastern continental Australia. It has rough, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk, smooth whitish bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and oval, cylindrical or urn-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus microcarpa'' is a spreading tree, sometimes with several trunks, 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 rough, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk as far as the larger branches, smooth greyish or whitish bark above. 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 dull green to bluish leaves long and wide and petiolate. Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on a branched peduncle, in groups of between seven and eleven, the 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 oval to spindle-shaped or diamond-shaped, long and wide with a conical to beaked operculum. Flowering occurs between February and June and the flowers are white or cream coloured. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, cylindrical or barrel-shaped capsule long and wide with the valved near rim level or below it.

Taxonomy

Grey box was first formally described in 1902 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 citin ...

who gave it the name ''Eucalyptus hemiphloia'' var. ''microcarpa'' in the '' Transactions, proceedings and report, Royal Society of South Australia''. (''Eucalyptus hemiphloia'' had previously been described 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 ...

, but that name is now accepted as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

of ''

Eucalyptus moluccana ''Eucalyptus moluccana'', commonly known as the grey box, gum-topped box or terriyergro, is a medium-sized to tall tree with rough bark on part or all of the trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of se ...

''.) In 1923, Maiden raised the variety to species status as ''E. microcarpa''. 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 ...

(''microcarpa'') means "small-fruited".

Distribution and habitat

''Eucalyptus microcarpa'' occurs in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australiais widespread and locally abundant inland from 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. In Victoria it is found from the

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Aust ...

east to south of

Benalla Benalla is a small city located on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the the population was 10,822. It is the administrative cent ...

and also occurs in Queensland. In South Australia, its distribution includes the Mount Lofty Ranges and

Heywood Park Heywood Park is a public park in the suburb of Unley Park in Adelaide, South Australia. It is home to the last remaining Grey Box gum trees (''Eucalyptus microcarpa'') on the Adelaide plains, some of which pre-date European settlement. The park ...

near

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. It is associated with grassy woodland and loamy soils.

Conservation status

This eucalypt is a component of the grey box (''E. microcarpa'') grassy woodlands and derived native grasslands of south- eastern Australia that is listed as "endangered" 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 ...

''.

References

External links