Eucalyptus synandra

Eucalyptus synandra, commonly known as Jingymia mallee,[2] is a mallee that is native to Western Australia. It has smooth bark, dull green, linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white to pink flowers and hemispherical to saucer-shaped fruit.

Jingymia mallee
Eucalyptus synandra capsules and blossom

Declared rare (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Eucalyptus
Species:
E. synandra
Binomial name
Eucalyptus synandra
Crisp[1]
Bark of Eucalyptus synandra.

Description

Eucalyptus synandra is a mallee that typically grows to a height of 3.5 to 10 metres (11 to 33 ft) with a width of 3 to 7 metres (10 to 23 ft) and forms a lignotuber. The bark is smooth, white to grey, sometimes powdery, and is shed in ribbons to reveal pink and brownish new bark. It has an open canopy that allows some light through. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull greyish green leaves that are 55–90 mm (2.2–3.5 in) long and 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of dull green on both sides, linear to narrow lance-shaped, 100–170 mm (3.9–6.7 in) long and 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) wide, the base tapering to a petiole 3–17 mm (0.12–0.67 in) long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven on a thin, unbranched peduncle 10–25 mm (0.39–0.98 in) long, the individual buds on pedicels 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) long. Mature buds are oval, 11–21 mm (0.43–0.83 in) long and 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) wide with a hemispherical floral cup and a conical operculum that has a long, thin beak. Flowering occurs between August and March and the flowers are creamy white to pink. The lower half of the stamens merge into a single tube. The fruit is a conical to hemispherical, suacer-like capsule 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in) wide with an ascending disc and between five and seven valves at rim level or protruding above it.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Taxonomy

Eucalyptus synandra was first formally described by the botanist Michael Douglas Crisp in 1982 in the journal Nuytsia. The type specimen was collected in 1981 by Alex George about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Jingymia in the Shire of Koorda.[7][8][9] The specific epithet (synandra) is from ancient Greek words meaning "together" and "male", referring to the joined stamens.[10][11]

Distribution

Jingymia mallee is found as several small populations on sandplains and rises in an area between Geraldton and Mount Marshall in the Mid West, Wheatbelt regions where it grows in sandy and gravelly lateritic soils.[2] The 27 separate populations of the species, containing about 1200 individual plants are scattered over a 300 kilometres (186 mi) length mostly between north of Morawa to around Koorda. They are mostly found on road verges but also on private land, conservation areas, pastoral leases and a timber reserve. It is usually found heath and scrub communities, associated with species including Eucalyptus leptopoda, E. erwartiana, E. loxophleba subsp. supralaevis, E. subangusta, E. brachycorys, Acacia coolgardiensis, A. acuaria and Hakea recurva.[4][11]

Conservation status

This mallee is classified as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia).[2]

Use in horticulture

Although the tree is not commonly cultivated,[11] it is commercially available in seed form or as seedlings. The drought tolerant plant[5] grows in full sun and attracts birds such as honeyeaters to the garden.[12]

gollark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ectLvzVS8LE
gollark: Apioforms are not, strictly, bees.
gollark: Or this? https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=apioform
gollark: You haven't seen the introductory videos?
gollark: Yes. I assume you see the troubling implications.

See also

References
  1. "Eucalyptus synandra". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  2. "Eucalyptus synandra". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  3. "Fact Sheet: Gorgeous Gums". Gardening Australia. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  4. "Threatened Species of the Week: Eucalyptus synandra (Jingymia Mallee)". Northern Agricultural Catchments Council. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  5. "Eucalyptus synandra 'Jingymia Mallee'". Ellenby Tree Farm. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  6. "Eucalyptus synandra". Euclid: Centre for Australian National Biodiversity research. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  7. Crisp, Michael D. (1982). "Eucalyptus synandra (Myrtaceae), a new species of mallee from Western Australia". Nuytsia. 4 (1): 129–133. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  8. "Eucalyptus synandra". APNI. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  9. "Eucalyptus synandra". Eucalink. Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  10. Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya, Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 318. ISBN 9780958034180.
  11. "Eucalyptus synandra". Australian Native Plants Society. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  12. "Eucalyptus synandra Jingymia mallee". Lullfitz Nursery. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.