Eucalyptus ancophila
Eucalyptus ancophila is a tree endemic to a small area of New South Wales in eastern Australia. It has grey "ironbark", glossy green, lance-shaped leaves, flower buds arranged in a branching inflorescence with seven oval to diamond-shaped buds in each umbel, white flowers and conical or barrel-shaped fruit.
Eucalyptus ancophila | |
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Eucalyptus ancophila in the Waite Arboretum | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Myrtales |
Family: | Myrtaceae |
Genus: | Eucalyptus |
Species: | E. ancophila |
Binomial name | |
Eucalyptus ancophila | |
Description
Eucalyptus ancophila is a tree with rough, grey "ironbark" that grows to a height of 35 m (100 ft), sometimes with smooth pale grey bark on its thinner branches. Young plants and coppice regrowth have four-sided stems and egg-shaped, later lance-shaped leaves, that are a paler shade of green on the lower side. The blade of the adult leaves are lance-shaped 90–200 mm (4–8 in) long and 18–4.8 mm (0.7–0.2 in) wide and only slightly paler on the lower side. The flower buds are arranged in a branching inflorescence, each branch with an umbel of seven buds. The groups have a peduncle 3–14 mm (0.1–0.6 in) long and the individual flowers a pedicel 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long. The buds are oval to diamond-shaped, 6–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide with a beaked to conical operculum that is shorter and narrower than the flower cup. Flowering has been recorded in November and the flowers are white. The fruit is a cone-shaped or barrel-shaped capsule 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide on a pedicel 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus ancophila was first formally described in 1990 by Lawrie Johnson and Ken Hill and the description was published in Telopea from a specimen collected near Kempsey.[1] The specific epithet (ancophila) is from the Ancient Greek words ankos meaning "mountain glen" or "valley"[5]:830 and philos, meaning "dear one" or "friend"[5]:355 referring to this species' habitat.[4]
Distribution and habitat
This eucalypt usually grows along creeks or in the bottom of valleys in the Kempsey and Bellingen districts.[3][4]
References
- "Eucalyptus ancophila". APNI. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- Hill, Ken. "Eucalyptus ancophila". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- "Eucalyptus ancophila". Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- Johnson, Lawrence A.S.; Hill, Kenneth (26 September 1990). "New taxa and combinations in Eucalyptus and Angophora (Myrtaceae)". Telopea. 4 (1): 82–83. doi:10.7751/telopea19904916.
- Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.