''Eucalyptus saxatilis'', commonly known as the Suggan Buggan mallee or Mount Wheeler mallee, is a species of mallee or small tree that is endemic to southeastern Australia. It has smooth bark that is shed in ribbons, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, white flowers and bell-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus saxatilis'' is a tree or mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth, slightly powdery grey-green bark that is shed in short ribbons. Young plants and coppice regrowth have sessile,

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 ...

, oblong to round leaves that are long, wide and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of dull bluish or greyish green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged 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 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 buds usually sessile. Mature buds are in contact side to side at their bases, long and wide with a flattened and beaked operculum. Flowering has been observed in March and August and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, bell-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves protruding slightly.

Taxonomy and

''Eucalyptus saxatilis'' was first formally described by

James Barrie Kirkpatrick James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and Ian Brooker in ''Australian Forest Research'' in 1977 from material collected by Brooker at Little River Gorge in the Snowy River National Park in 1975. 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 ...

(''saxatilis'') is a Latin word meaning "dwelling or found among rocks".

Distribution and habitat

Suggan Buggan mallee grows in rocky sites in a few locations near the border between far north-eastern Victoria and south-eastern New South Wales, including the Little River Gorge, Stradbroke Chasm and Mount Wheeler.

Conservation

''Eucalyptus saxatilis'' was one of eleven species selected for the Save a Species Walk campaign in April 2016; scientists walked 300 km to raise money for collection of seeds to be prepared and stored at the Australian PlantBank at the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405703 Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Trees of Australia saxatilis Myrtales of Australia Taxa named by Ian Brooker Plants described in 1977

Description

Taxonomy and

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

See also

References