 |
Eucalyptus albopurpurea (Boomsma) Nicolle, J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 19: 90 (2000).
E. lansdowneana subsp. albopurpurea Boomsma, S. Australia
Naturalist 48: 55 (1974). T: South Australia, 4 km E of Kellidie
Bay, 34°40'S,
135°30'E,
2.vii. 1973, R.A.Dorward s.n.; holo: AD; iso: AD, CANB.
E. behriana var. purpurascens F.Muell. ex Benth., Fl.
Austral. 3: 214 (1867);
E. hemiphloia var. purpurascens (F.Muell. ex Benth.)
Maiden, Trans. & Proc. Roy. Soc. S. Australia 26: 12
(1902);
E. odorata var. purpurascens (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Maiden,
Trans. & Proc. Roy. Soc. S. Australia 32: 283 (1908).
T: Lake Wangary, S.A., C.Wilhelmi s.n.; iso: MEL.
E. lansdowneana var. leucantha Blakely, Key Eucalypts
224 (1934). T: between Kirton Point & Port Lincoln, S.A., Jan. 1907,
J.H.Maiden s.n. ; (NSW).
Mallee to 5 m tall. Forming a lignotuber.
Bark rough on part or most of stems, fibrous, grey to grey-brown,
or smooth throughout, grey to pink-grey or coppery brown, the crown
sometimes ribbony.
Branchlets with or without oil glands in the pith, if present
restricted to the nodes.
Juvenile growth (coppice or wild seedling to 50 cm tall): stems
rounded to squared in cross-section, smooth or slightly warty; juvenile
leaves always petiolate, opposite for 3 to 6 pairs then alternate,
ovate to broadly lanceolate, 4-11cm long, 2.3-4.7 cm wide, base tapering
to petiole, apex pointed or rounded, concolorous, lower leaves dull,
blue-green, later leaves glossy, dark green.
Adult leaves alternate, petiole 1-2 cm long;
blade lanceolate, 7-14 cm long, 1.2-3 cm
wide, base tapering to petiole, concolorous, glossy, dark green, side
veins acute, moderately to densely reticulate with erose veinlets,
intramarginal vein parallel to and remote from margin, oil glands
few, intersectional, or absent.
Inflorescences terminal panicles sometimes with single umbels
in subterminal axils also, peduncles 0.7-2 cm long; buds 7, 9 or 11,
sessile or pedicellate, clavate to oblong to ovoid, green to brown,
smooth, without longitudinal ridges, scar absent (both inner and outer
opercula held until flowering), operculum conical to rounded, stamens
inflexed or irregularly flexed, anthers adnate, oblong or globoid,
dehiscing by lateral pores, style long, stigma blunt or pinhead shaped,
locules 4 or 5 each with 4 vertical ovule rows; flowers white, pink,
mauve or purple.
Fruit sessile or pedicellate, sub-cylindrical, cup-shaped or
barrel-shaped, 0.5-0.8 cm wide, disc descending, valves 4 or 5, enclosed.
Seed brown or grey, 0.7-1.5 mm long, ovoid or flattened-ovoid,
dorsal surface with shallow reticulum, hilum ventral.
Cultivated seedling (measured at node 10): cotyledons reniform
to +/-oblong; stems rounded to square in cross-section, sometimes
slightly warty; leaves always petiolate, opposite for 3 to 6 nodes
then alternate, broadly ovate, 4-8.5 cm long, 2-5 cm long, base truncate
to rounded or tapering, dull, grey-green, sometimes slightly glaucous.
NOTES
Eucalyptus albopurpurea (from Latin albus, white
and purpureus, purple, referring to the variation seen in flower
colour).
A mallee endemic to South Australia, found only on the southern tip
of the Eyre Peninsula and on Kangaroo Island, on coastal sands. It
has partly rough-barked stems and glossy green adult leaves. Flowers
vary in colour from white to pale pink and shades of mauve.
Within its natural range E. albopurpurea is unlikely to be
confused with any other species because of its terminal inflorescences,
often colourful flowers and broad juvenile leaves of coppice growth.
Formerly known under the name of E. lansdowneana subsp. albopurpurea
but now considered to be not that closely related to E. lansdowneana
, (a red-flowered box species from the Gawler Ranges). Buds and
fruit of E. lansdowneana are slightly larger than those of
E. albopurpurea. E. lansdowneana also has flowers with
the outer stamens sterile (staminodes).
Eucalyptus albopurpurea
belongs in Eucalyptus
subgenus Symphyomyrtus section Adnataria (the boxes)
because the buds have two opercula, ovules are in four rows, seeds
are flattened-ovoid, cotyledons are reniform, and anthers are rigid
on the staminal filaments. Within section Adnataria, E.
albopurpurea
is part of a subgroup, series Buxeales subseries Continentes,
further distinguished by having buds that retain the outer operculum
until flowering time when both opercula are shed together. Most species
in this group are from eastern Australia and have all stamens fertile
and are woodland trees of hills and plains, often dominant in the
landscape viz. E. albens , E. moluccana , E. microcarpa and
E. pilligaensis . Others viz. E. viridis , E. polybractea ,
E. froggattii , E. odorata , E. albopurpurea, E. "illucens"
and E. porosa are mallees, some of them also occurring
as small trees occasionally.
USES
E. albopurpurea is widely cultivated
in southern Australia as a suitable small eucalypt specimen for gardens
and carparks. The flower colour is a bonus.
|
|
|
