Eucalyptus sessilis

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Finke River mallee
Eucalyptus sessilis.jpg
Eucalyptus sessilis habit
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Eucalyptus
Species:
E. sessilis
Binomial name
Eucalyptus sessilis
Synonyms

Eucalyptus pachyphylla var. sessilis

flower buds and flowers Eucalyptus sessilis buds.jpg
flower buds and flowers
fruit Eucalyptus sessilis capsules.jpg
fruit
fruit and foliage Eucalyptus sessilis capsules and foliage.jpg
fruit and foliage

Eucalyptus sessilis, commonly known as Finke River mallee, red bud mallee [2] or river mallee, [3] is a species of mallee that is native to the Northern Territory and central areas along the border of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with ribbon of old bark near the base, lance-shaped to egg-shaped or elliptical adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy yellow flowers and hemispherical fruit.

Contents

Description

Eucalyptus sessilis is a mallee with a spreading, straggly habit, that typically grows to a height of 2–5 m (6 ft 7 in–16 ft 5 in), and forms a lignotuber. Its bark is smooth and grey and is shed in long strips or ribbons that sometimes accumulate at the base of the stems. Young plants and coppice regrowth have egg-shaped to broadly lance-shaped leaves that are 120–160 mm (4.7–6.3 in) long and 50–60 mm (2.0–2.4 in) wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same dull and green to grey-green colour on both sides, 60–150 mm (2.4–5.9 in) long and 17–62 mm (0.67–2.44 in) wide on a petiole 17–42 mm (0.67–1.65 in) long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven on a stout, unbranched peduncle 4–10 mm (0.16–0.39 in) long, the individual buds sessile or on pedicels up to 4 mm (0.16 in) long. Mature buds are claret-coloured, oval to spherical, 18–25 mm (0.71–0.98 in) long and 10–16 mm (0.39–0.63 in) wide, with longitudinal ribs and a beaked operculum. Flowering occurs between April and July and the flowers are yellow-cream in colour. The fruit is a woody, usually sessile, hemispherical capsule 6–13 mm (0.24–0.51 in) long and 14–23 mm (0.55–0.91 in) wide with a raised disc and four protruding valves. The seeds are grey-brown to blackish, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long and a flattened pyramid to cubic shape. [2] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Taxonomy

Finke River mallee was first formally described in 1920 by the botanist Joseph Maiden as Eucalyptus pachyphylla var. sessilis in his book A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus. The type specimen was collected by Ernest Giles in 1872 at Glen of Palms in the western Macdonnell Range, to the south of Hermannsburg [8] [9] In 1934, William Blakely raised the subspecies to species status as E. sessilis in his book A Key to the Eucalypts. [10] A common name for this tree is the Finke River (or River) mallee. [4] [3] The specific epithet (sessilis) refers to the sessile buds and fruit. [2]

Distribution and habitat

Eucalyptus sessilis grows in open shrubland on stony slopes. It is found in the central Northern Territory in an area centred around Alice Springs with a scattered distribution that extends west over the Western Australian border into the Goldfields-Esperance region. It is most often found on rocky ranges particularly the MacDonnell Ranges and Central Ranges in the Northern Territory and the Rawlinson Ranges and Walter James Range in Western Australia. It is also scattered through the Finke River basin, Great Sandy Desert and Burt Plains. [2] [5] [4]

Conservation status

This mallee is classified as "least concern" under the Northern Territory Government Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976 and as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. [4]

Use in horticulture

It is both drought and frost resistant, attracts birds and grows well in full sun or part shade. [11] [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Eucalyptus gamophylla</i> Species of plant

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

Eucalyptus kessellii, commonly known as Jerdacuttup mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to an area along the south coast of Western Australia. It has very hard, rough bark on the trunk of larger specimens, smooth greyish and brownish bark above, lance-shaped to egg-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, creamy white flowers and downturned, conical to cup-shaped fruit.

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

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

Eucalyptus mooreana, commonly known as Moore's gum, mountain white gum or King Leopold Range mallee, is a species of stunted, straggly tree or mallee that is endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It has smooth, powdery white bark, a crown of juvenile, sessile, stem-clasping leaves arranged in opposite pairs, flower buds arranged in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to hemispherical fruit.

<i>Eucalyptus oxymitra</i> Species of plant

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<i>Eucalyptus pachyphylla</i> Species of plant

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

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Eucalyptus prominens is a species of mallee that is endemic to a small area on the west coast of Western Australia. It has smooth greyish bark, sometimes with rough bark near the base, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers and conical fruit.

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

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

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<i>Corymbia eremaea</i> Species of plant

Corymbia eremaea, commonly known as mallee bloodwood, hill bloodwood and centre range bloodwood, is a small, mallee-like tree that is endemic to central Australia. Indigenous Australians know the plant as muur-muurpa. It has rough, evenly tessellated bark, lance-shaped leaves, oval to pear-shaped flower buds arranged on a branching peduncle and urn-shaped fruit.

<i>Eucalyptus conglobata</i> Species of plant

Eucalyptus conglobata, also known as the cong mallee or Port Lincoln mallee, is a species of eucalypt that is native to the south coast of Western Australia and South Australia. It is a mallee with smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and clustered hemispherical fruit.

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

Eucalyptus desmondensis, commonly known as Desmond mallee, is a species of slender mallee that is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between nine and nineteen, cream-coloured to pale yellow flowers and cup-shaped to barrel-shaped fruit.

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

Eucalyptus normantonensis, commonly known as Normanton box, is a species of mallee, rarely a small tree, that is endemic to northern Australia. It has rough, fibrous or flaky bark on some or all of the stems, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and cylindrical, barrel-shaped or shortened spherical fruit.

References

  1. ↑ "Eucalyptus sessilis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Eucalyptus sessilis". Euclid: Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 John Turner; Ian Brooker (1978). Finke River mallee: Eucalyptus sessilis (Maiden) Blakely. CSIRO.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Eucalyptus sessilis". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  5. 1 2 "Eucalyptus sessilis (Maiden) Blakely". NT Flora. Northern Territory Government . Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Eucalyptus sessilis". Alice Springs Town Council . Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  7. ↑ Chippendale, George M. "Eucalyptus sessilis". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  8. ↑ "Eucalyptus pachyphylla var. sessilis". APNI. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  9. ↑ Maiden, Joseph (1920). A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. pp. 14–16. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  10. ↑ "Eucalyptus sessilis". APNI. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "Eucalyptus sessilis". Australian Seed. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
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