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Eucalyptus acaciiformis Deane & Maiden, Proc. Linn. Soc.
New South Wales 24: 454 (1899).
T: Yarrowitch, N.S.W., 1897, J.H.Maiden; lecto: NSW, fide
J.H.Maiden, Crit. Revis. Eucalyptus 3: 43 (1914); isolecto:
MEL.
Tree to 20 m tall. Forming a lignotuber.
Bark rough to small branches, stringy or fibrous, grey to
grey-brown.
Juvenile growth (coppice or field seedlings to 50 cm):
stem rounded in cross-section, warty or
smooth; juvenile leaves opposite at first but soon alternate, sessile,
elliptical, 2-4.5 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, margin entire or crenulate,
blue-green or grey-green.
Adult leaves alternate, petiole 0.5-1.7 cm long;
blade lanceolate to falcate, 5-13 cm
long, 1-2.2 cm wide, base tapering to petiole, margin entire, concolorous,
usually dull, green or grey-green, side-veins greater than 45°
to midrib, moderately to densely reticulate, intramarginal vein
parallel to and just within margin, oil glands island and intersectional.
Inflorescences axillary unbranched, peduncles 0.2-0.6 cm
long; buds 7, pedicellate, ovoid to fusiform, green, scar present,
operculum conical to beaked, stamens inflexed or irregularly flexed,
anthers cuboid to oblong, versatile, dorsifixed, dehiscing by longitudinal
slits (non-confluent), style long, locules 3 or 4, the placentae
each with 4 vertical ovule rows; flowers white.
Fruit pedicellate, cup-shaped, hemispherical or campanulate,
0.4-0.5 cm wide, disc raised, valves 3 or 4, near rim level.
Seed brown, 1.2-2 mm long, ovoid or flattened-ovoid, often
lacunose, dorsal surface pitted, hilum ventral.
Cultivated seedlings (measured at ca node 10): cotyledons
bilobed to oblong; stems rounded in cross-section, warty; leaves
sessile, opposite for ca 5 nodes then subopposite to alternate,
elliptical, 2.5-3.5 cm long, 0.7-1.4 cm wide, base tapering, margin
entire or subcrenulate, green to grey-green.
NOTES
Eucalyptus acaciiformis (Latin for Acacia-like, of
the leaves).
A rough-barked tree restricted to the north-east of New South Wales
from Nowendoc north almost to the Queensland border, on ridges and
slopes with shallow poor soil. The crown is dull, green to grey-green.
E. acaciiformis belongs Eucalyptus
subgenus Symphyomyrtus section Maidenaria, a large
group of species more or less restricted to south-eastern Australia,
characterized by bilobed cotyledons, simple axillary inflorescences,
buds with two opercula, stamens with versatile anthers and flattened
seeds with a ventral hilum. Within this section E. acaciiformis
and 5 other species form series Acaciiformes diagnosed by
the rough bark, juvenile leaves that are soon alternate, glandular
adult leaves, non-swampy habitat, and small, rather flat-topped
fruit. Three of these species - E. ignorabilis , E. fulgens
and E. aromaphloia are restricted
to southern Victoria and far south-eastern New South Wales, whilst
E. corticosa is a rare species from east of Rylstone in
central New South Wales. The remaining two species, E. acaciiformis
and E. nicholii both occur further to the north on the Northern
Tablelands. E. acaciiformis differs from the better known
E. nicholii by the broader adult leaves, oblong less
clustered juvenile leaves, and less conspicuous valves to the fruit.
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