Eucalyptus rudderi, or Rudder's box,[1] is a species of tree that is endemic to northern New South Wales. It has rough fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and barrel-shaped or hemispherical fruit.
Eucalyptus rudderi is a tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, fibrous or flaky grey bark on the trunk and branches. Young plants and coppice regrowth have stems that are square in cross-section, and narrow lance-shaped, dull green leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets in groups of seven on a branched peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Mature buds are oval, about long and wide with a conical operculum. Flowering occurs from March to April and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody barrel-shaped or hemispherical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.[2] [3]
Eucalyptus rudderi was first formally described in 1905 by Joseph Maiden in Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. The type specimen was collected by Augustus Rudder (1928–1904) at Cundletown.[4] The specific epithet (rudderi) honours the collector of the type material.[5] [6]
Rudder's box grows in shallow soil on steep slopes in forest in the Taree-Karuah area.