''Eucalyptus youngiana'', commonly known as large-fruited mallee, Ooldea mallee and yarldarlba, is a species of mallee, less commonly a tree, that in native to arid and semi-arid areas of southern Western Australia and South Australia. It has rough, fibrous bark on some or all of the trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, red, pink or bright yellow flowers and short, broad, conical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus youngiana'' is a mallee that typically grows to a height of , less commonly a tree to , 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, flaky, dark grey-brown bark on part or all of the trunk and smooth, pinkish-grey to creamy 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 greyish green, egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. The adult leaves are the same shade of dull bluish green on both sides, lance-shaped, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of three on an unbranched 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, long and wide with a horn-shaped or beaked operculum long. Flowering occurs from June to October and the flowers are red, pink or bright yellow. The fruit is a woody, short, broad and hemispherical capsule, long and wide with coarse, longitudinal ridges. The seeds are brown, an irregular pyramid shape and long.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus youngiana'' was first formally described in 1876 by Ferdinand von Mueller in his book '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'', based on specimens collected at

Queen Victoria Spring Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

Jess Young Jess Young (Jesse) (1851–1909) was an English traveller. He is best known as an explorer who accompanied Ernest Giles during his fourth expedition, making some important botanical collections along the way. Life He was a younger son of Richard ...

during the Giles expedition of May 1875. The specific epithet honours

, a member of Giles's fourth expedition, who collected the type specimen.

Distribution and habitat

The large-fruited mallee grows in sandy soil on flat country, often associated with '' Triodia'' species. It occurs throughout arid and semi-arid areas from north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia through the

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 cros ...

to Tarcoola and Bulgunnia Station in South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405732 Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1876 Eucalypts of Western Australia Myrtales of Australia youngiana Mallees (habit) Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller