''Eucalyptus fasciculosa'', commonly known as pink gum, hill gum or scrub gum, is a species of small tree that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to southern Australia. It has mostly smooth, light grey to pinkish bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and conical to barrel-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus fasciculosa'' is a tree with a single stem, rarely a mallee, and typically grows to a height of and a width of . It has smooth, off-white to slaty blue bark that is shed in flakes, sometimes with rough flaky bark near the base. Young plants and

coppice Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

regrowth have egg-shaped, petiolate leaves long and wide. The adult leaves are arranged alternately, thick, the same glossy green to blue-green on both sides, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of stems on a branching peduncle long, the individual buds on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

long. Mature buds are oval to diamond-shaped, long and wide with a conical operculum. Flowering has been recorded in most months between March and December and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, conical to barrel-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves below rim level. The seeds are grey to red-brown , irregularly shaped and slightly flattened.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus fasciculosa'' was first formally described in 1855 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

in the ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''fasciculosa'') is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''fascis'' meaning "bundle", "packet" or "sheaf", possibly referring to the flower bundles on the ends of the stems.

Distribution and habitat

Pink gum grows in woodland or as an emergent low shrubland on soil of low fertility. It is mainly found in the south-east of South Australia, in the

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and d ...

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major list of wine-producing regions, wine-producin ...

and on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...

. It also occurs in the far south west of Victoria. The canopy is not dense and other plants are able to grow in the dappled shade provided by the tree. The species is very similar in appearance to ''

Eucalyptus leucoxylon ''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'', commonly known as yellow gum, blue gum or white ironbark, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It has smooth yellowish bark with some rough bark near the bas ...

''.

Use in horticulture

This eucalypt has a moderate growth rate and is able to tolerate low rainfall, moderate wind, including second-line salt wind and light frost. It is planted for as an ornamental tree in gardens, parks and as a street tree.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405595 Flora of South Australia Trees of Australia fasciculosa Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1855 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

Use in horticulture

See also

References