Eucalyptus dolorosa

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Mount Misery mallee
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Eucalyptus
Species:
E. dolorosa
Binomial name
Eucalyptus dolorosa

Eucalyptus dolorosa, commonly known as the Mount Misery mallee or Dandaragan mallee, [2] is a species of eucalypt that is endemic to Western Australia. It is a mallee with a short skirt of rough flaky bark at the base of the trunk, smooth pale greyish brown above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to spherical fruit.

Contents

Description

Eucalyptus dolorosa typically grows to a height of 1.5–5 m (4 ft 11 in–16 ft 5 in) and forms a lignotuber. The bark on the lower 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) of the trunk is rough flaky and grey to yellowish brown, smooth, pale grey-brown above. Young plants and coppice regrowth have leaves arranged alternately, egg-shaped to lance-shaped, 65–115 mm (2.6–4.5 in) long, 25–40 mm (0.98–1.57 in) wide and petiolate. Adult leaves are glossy green, arranged alternately, lance-shaped to curved 75–102 mm (3.0–4.0 in) long and 14–23 mm (0.55–0.91 in) wide with a pointed apex and a base tapering to a petiole 9–20 mm (0.35–0.79 in) long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets on a branching peduncle 4–15 mm (0.16–0.59 in) long, the individual buds on a pedicel 4–9 mm (0.16–0.35 in) long. Mature buds are oval, 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) wide with a conical operculum. It blooms between February and March producing yellow flowers. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped to more or less spherical capsule 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) long and 11–14 mm (0.43–0.55 in) wide with a descending disc and four or five valves at rim level. The brown pyramidal seeds within are 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long. [3] [4]

Taxonomy

Eucalyptus dolorosa was first formally described by the botanists Ian Brooker and Stephen Hopper in 1993 in the journal Nuytsia . [5] [6] The specific epithet is taken from the Latin word dolorosus meaning "painful" or "sad", [7] in reference to the only locality where the species is found. [3]

The species is part of the Eucalyptus subgenus series Diversiformae, a group of mallees that all have adult leaves held erect, buds with a single unscarred operculum and pyramidal seeds. The other species in this series include E. erectifolia , E. platydisca , E. diversifolia , E. todtiana , E. lateritica , E. pachyloma and E. buprestium . [8]

Distribution and habitat

Mount Misery mallee is found on a hillside in a small area of the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia around Dandaragan where it grows in lateritic soils.

The plant is part of a mallee heath community over low scrub, situated between large ironstone boulders. Other species found in the scrub include Eucalyptus arachnaea , E. gittinsii , E. pluricaulis , E. abdita , Hakea lissocarpha , H. obliqua , H. undulata , Calothamnus quadrifidus , Melaleuca radula , Acacia pulchella and Eremaea asterocarpa . [4] [9]

Conservation status

This species is listed as endangered by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia). [9] A total of 25 individual plants in eight population groups remain in a small remnant of natural bush on a private property on the summit and slopes of Mount Misery, a lateritic hill east of Cataby in Western Australia. [2] [4]

Related Research Articles

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Eucalyptus incerata, commonly known as Mount Day mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to southern Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds with a long, horn-shaped operculum and arranged in groups of seven, yellow flowers and barrel-shaped to cup-shaped fruit.

<i>Eucalyptus johnsoniana</i> Species of eucalyptus

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<i>Eucalyptus suberea</i> Species of eucalyptus

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<i>Eucalyptus buprestium</i> Species of eucalyptus

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<i>Eucalyptus celastroides</i> Species of eucalyptus

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Eucalyptus cuprea, commonly known as the mallee box, is a species of mallee that is endemic to the west coast of Western Australia. It has rough, flaky bark on the base of its trunk, smooth coppery-coloured bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and conical to cup-shaped fruit.

<i>Eucalyptus diminuta</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus diminuta, commonly known as the spring mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to south-west of Western Australia. It has smooth, silvery to greyish bark, sometimes with rough flaky bark near the base, lance-shaped adult leaves, pendulous, elongated flower buds arranged in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and cup-shaped to bell-shaped fruit.

References

  1. ↑ "Eucalyptus dolorosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Eucalyptus dolorosa — Dandaragan Mallee, Mount Misery Mallee". Species Profile and Threats Database. Department of the Environment and Energy . Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Eucalyptus dolorosa Mount Misery mallee". Euclid. CSIRO . Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Conservation Advice Eucalyptus dolorosa Dandaragan mallee" (PDF). Department of Environment. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Eucalyptus dolorosa". APNI. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  6. ↑ Brooker, M. Ian H.; Hopper, Stephen D. (1993). "New series, subseries and subspecies of Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) from Western Australia and from South Australia". Nuytsia. 9 (1): 6–7. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  7. ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 276.
  8. ↑ "Eucalyptus pachyloma". Euclid. CSIRO . Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Eucalyptus dolorosa". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
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