 |
Eucalyptus astringens subsp. redacta Brooker & Hopper,
Nuytsia 14: 353 (2002).
T: Western Australia: Wellstead road to Cape Riche, at the Mount Maxwell
[=Konkoberup Hill] rubbish tip with a view to the sea, 34°35'34"S,
118°43'54"E,
3 May 1999, A.V.Slee 4117; holo: CANB; iso: AD, PERTH.
Mallet to 5 m tall. Lignotuber absent.
Bark smooth throughout, grey over yellow then shiny bronze to
salmon-coloured.
Branchlets with oil glands in the pith.
Juvenile growth (coppice or field seedlings to 50 cm):
not seen.
Adult leaves alternate, petioles 0.8-2.5 cm long; blade lanceolate,
rarely falcate, 5-10.5 cm long, 1-2.5(3) cm wide, base tapering to
petiole, margin entire, apex pointed, concolorous, green, at least
slightly glossy, side veins at an acute or wider angle to midrib,
reticulation moderate to dense and broken, intramarginal vein present,
oil glands numerous, island and intersectional.
Inflorescences axillary unbranched, spreading to erect, rarely
pendulous, peduncles flattened or only slightly so, 0.8-2.5(3) cm
long; buds 7, pedicellate, elongated-ovoid, flared at the join of
operculum and hypanthium, scar present (outer operculum lost early),
inner operculum bluntly horn-shaped, ca 1.5-2 times the length of
the hypanthium, stamens erect, anthers oblong, versatile, dorsifixed,
dehiscing by longitudinal slits, style long and straight, stigma blunt,
locules 3 or 4, the placentae each with 4 vertical rows of ovules;
flowers creamy white to pale lemon, rarely pink to red.
Fruit erect, spreading or rarely downturned, pedicellate, cupular
to obconical or campanulate, 0.6-0.8 cm wide, disc level at first
then descending, valves 3 or 4, held at rim level or exserted.
Seed blackish brown, 0.8-2 mm long, ovoid to flattened-ovoid,
dorsal surface shallowly reticulate, hilum ventral.
Cultivated seedling (measured at node 10): cotyledons Y-shaped
(bisected); stems rounded in cross-section; leaves always petiolate,
opposite for 4 to 6 nodes then alternate, ovate, 5-7.5 cm long, 4-6
cm wide, dull, grey-green.
NOTES
Eucalyptus astringens (Latin,
astringens, astringent, referring to extracts from the bark).
A mallet endemic to Western Australia, distributed south-east of Perth
from Brookton, south to near Albany and east to Hopetoun. The adult
leaves are glossy green.
Eucalyptus astringens belongs in Eucalyptus subgenus
Symphyomyrtus section Bisectae sub-section Glandulosae
because the buds have an operculum scar, cotyledons are bisected and
branchlets have oil glands in the pith. Within this large sub-section
(ca 80 species) Eucalyptus astringens is closely related to
a group of mallets and mallees (series Erectae subseries Pedicellatae)
recognised by the glossy green leaf surface, leaves with many oil
glands but not obscuring the secondary venation, peduncles long and
flattened or terete, inflorescences spreading to pendulous and buds
with operculum longer than the hypanthium and erect stamens arising
from a narrow staminophore.
Eucalyptus astringens is distinguished from its relatives by
its mallet habit, smooth bark and stubby, blunt buds with operculum
only 1 to 2 times the length of the hypanthium and its campanulate
fruit. E. thamnoides has similar buds but differs in the consistent
mallee habit. Other related species viz. the rough-butted tree of
freshwater creeks and depressions, E. occidentalis , rough-barked
mallee E. aspratilis , smooth-barked
mallee E. sporadica and rough-butted tree of saline sites,
E. sargentii , all have more slender buds with elongated opercula.
There are two subspecies:
subsp. astringens
It is always found on well-drained lateritic breakaways and occurs
from Brookton to near Albany.
subsp. redacta (Latin redactus, reduced, of habit,
buds and fruit compared to subsp. astringens).
A small mallet with smaller buds and fruits than in subsp. astringens,
occurring between Albany and Bremer Bay east to Dragon Rocks and Ravensthorpe
Range; on lateritic breakaways.
The timber of E. astringens is very hard and strong. The species
has been cultivated for use in tool handles, mining timber, farm purposes
and fuel. The bark has a high tannin content.
|
|
|
