Eucalyptus fitzgeraldii explained

Eucalyptus fitzgeraldii, commonly known as the broad-leaved box[1] or the paper-barked box,[2] is a tree that is endemic to Western Australia. It has rough, flaky bark, flower buds arranged in groups of seven and bell-shaped to urn-shaped fruit.

Description

Eucalyptus fitzgeraldii is a tree that typically grows to a height of 5to and has rough, grey, fibrous or flaky bark that is shed in papery flakes. Adult leaves are egg-shaped to more or less round, glossy when fresh, up to long and wide on a petiole up to long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven on a peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels about long. Mature buds have a conical to bell-shaped floral cup long and wide with a conical to hemispherical operculum long and wide. Flowering occurs between August and September and the flowers are whitish cream.[3]

Taxonomy

Eucalyptus fitzgeraldii was first formally described in 1934 by William Blakely from a specimen collected between Tabletop Mountain and the Artesian Range near the Charnley River by William Vincent Fitzgerald.[4] The specific epithet (fitzgeraldii) honours the collector of the type specimen.[5] [6]

Distribution

The broad-leaved box is found on rocky hillsides and plains in the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia where it grows in clay soils around basalt or dolerite.

Conservation status

This eucalypt is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.[7]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Eucalypts of Northern Australia: ecological & conservation values. A Summary. 6 October 2016. Kimberley to Cape.
  2. Web site: Chippendale . George M. . Eucalyptus fitzgeraldii . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra . 6 July 2019.
  3. Web site: Eucalyptus fitzgeraldii. 22 November 2017. Eucalink. Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney.
  4. Web site: Eucalyptus fitzgeraldii. APNI. 6 July 2019.
  5. Web site: Fitzgerald, William Vincent. Encyclopedia of Australian science. 5 March 2015.
  6. Web site: Fitzgerald, William Vincent. Trove; National Library of Australia. 5 March 2015.
  7. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 6 July 2019.