Eucalyptus cerasiformis

Eucalyptus cerasiformis, commonly known as the cherry-fruited mallee,[2] is a mallee that is endemic to a small area of Western Australia. It has smooth, pale grey, sometimes powdery bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, pale yellow or whitish flowers and cylindrical or bell-shaped fruit.

buds
fruit

Cherry-fruited mallee

Priority Four — Rare Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Eucalyptus
Species:
E. cerasiformis
Binomial name
Eucalyptus cerasiformis

Description

Eucalyptus cerasiformis is a mallee that typically grows to a height of 2 to 3.5 metres (7 to 11 ft) and has smooth, pale grey and white, sometimes powdery bark. The adult leaves are thin and the same glossy, grey-green on both sides. The leaf blade is narrow lance-shaped, 50–112 mm (2.0–4.4 in) long and 5–14 mm (0.20–0.55 in) wide on a petiole 8–20 mm (0.31–0.79 in) long. The flower buds are borne in groups of seven in leaf axils on a thin peduncle 18–50 mm (0.71–1.97 in) long, the individual buds on a pedicel 7–16 mm (0.28–0.63 in) long. Mature buds are more or less cylindrical, 9–11 mm (0.35–0.43 in) long and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) wide with a conical to rounded operculum with a point on the tip. Flowering occurs between December and March and the flowers are pale yellow or whitish. The fruit is a woody cylindrical, bell-shaped, urn-shaped or hemispherical capsule.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy and naming

Eucalyptus cerasiformis was first formally described in 1978 by Ian Brooker and Donald Blaxell from a specimen collected by Blaxell near the Hyden - Norseman Road, 164 km (102 mi) east of Hyden. The description was published in the journal Nuytsia.[5][6] The specific epithet (cerasiformis) is derived from the Latin cerasus meaning "cherry-tree"[7]:194 and -formis meaning "shape",[7]:46 referring to the hanging flower buds resembling a bunch of cherries.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Cherry-fruited mallee is only known from the type location, just north of Lake Johnston where it grows in low, open forest in red-loamy soils.[2][3][4]

Conservation status

This eucalypt is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife,[3] meaning that is rare or near threatened.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Eucalyptus cerasiformis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  2. "Eucalyptus cerasiformis". Euclid: Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  3. "Eucalyptus cerasiformis". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  4. Chippendale, George M. "Eucalyptus cerasiformis". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  5. Brooker, Donald F. Ian; Blaxell, W. (1978). "Five new species of Eucalyptus from Western Australia". Nuytsia. 2 (4): 226–228. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  6. "Eucalyptus cerasiformis". APNI. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  7. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  8. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
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