''Eucalyptus gracilis'', commonly known as yorrell, snap and rattle, red mallee, white mallee or kong mallee, is a species of mallee or small tree

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 Australia, where it is found in south-western New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. It has smooth white bark, usually with rough, fibrous or flaky bark on the lower stems, linear to narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in group of between seven and eleven and cup-shaped, cylindrical or barrel-shaped fruit. Eucalyptus gracilis 1c

Description

''Eucalyptus gracilis'' is an open to spreading, multi-stemmed mallee or tree that typically grows to a height of but sometimes to . It has smooth white, grey and coppery-cream bark, but usually rough, fibrous or flaky bark at the base of the stems. 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 linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same glossy green on both sides, linear to narrow lance-shaped or curved, long and wide on a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven, nine or eleven on an unbranched peduncle long and square in cross-section, 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 club-shaped, long and wide with a flattened to rounded operculum. It blooms between March and October producing creamy-white flowers. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, cylindrical or barrel-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves enclosed.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus gracilis'' was first formally described by the

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

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 1855 in ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science'', from specimens collected "in the desert on the Murray River". The species name is 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 ...

adjective ''gracilis'' "slender", likely referring to its branches and habit. ''

Eucalyptus yilgarnensis ''Eucalyptus yilgarnensis'', commonly known as yorrell or yorrel, is a species of mallee (habit), mallee, rarely a small tree, that is Endemism, endemic to Western Australia. It usually has rough bark on the trunk, smooth bark above, linear to ...

'' was formerly considered a subspecies of this species.

Distribution and habitat

Yorrell grows on sand dunes and plains, crests of rises and along creek lines in the Eremaean and

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

botanical regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy-clay-loamy soils over

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. It is found throughout most of southern and central

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

where it grows in mallee shrubland in a range of soils, often over limestone. In Victoria it is confined to the north-west of the state, mostly in the

Big Desert Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a Discovery C ...

and Sunset Country, east to

Manangatang Manangatang ( ) is a town in north-western Victoria, Australia. At the , Manangatang had a population of 274. It is sometimes noted for its unusual name, from an Aboriginal term "manang" meaning ''land'' and "kaaiti" meaning ''water''. Transpor ...

. It also occurs in south western

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

where it is found in mallee shrubland on red aeolian sands south from Yathong and west from

West Wyalong West Wyalong is the main town of the Bland Shire in the northern Riverina region of western New South Wales, Australia. In the 2021 Census, West Wyalong's population was 3,037. Located west of Sydney as well as being above sea level, it i ...

Cultivation

''E. gracilis'' is often cultivated in open areas, wider verges, in parks and reserves and as a shelter wind-break or for

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

control. It is also known to be good for

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

production. Nectar-eating birds and insects use it for food and habitat. The

yellow-tailed black cockatoo The yellow-tailed black cockatoo (''Zanda funerea'') is a large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia measuring in length. It has a short crest on the top of its head. Its plumage is mostly brownish black and it has prominent yellow ...

consumes the seeds of this species. Image:Eucalyptus gracilis 2c.JPG, ''Eucalyptus gracilis'' foliage and blossoms Image:Eucalyptus gracilis 2.jpg, Mallees near Calperum, South Australia

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7212813 gracilis Trees of Australia Mallees (habit) Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Eucalypts of Western Australia Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1854 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller