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''Eucalyptus moderata'' is a species of tree or a mallee that is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...
to the southwest of Western Australia. It has rough, hard, fibrous bark on some or all of the trunk, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of seven, pale yellow flowers and pendulous, urn-shaped fruit.


Description

The tree typically grows to a height of or shorter in mallee form with hard, scaly-fibrous, dark grey bark on the base of the tree which becomes a smooth white colour further up the tree. It forms a
lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...
and has
glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...
branchlets. The concolorous, dull, blue-green to green adult leaves are arranged alternately. The leaf blade has a lanceolate shape with a length of and a width of with a that tapers to the petiole. It blooms between September and July producing cream-yellow flowers. Each unbranched axillary
inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...
usually has more than seven pedicellate buds. The mature buds have an ovoid to oblong shape with a length of and a width of . The buds are scarred with a beaked to horn shaped operculum and pale yellow flowers. After flowering, erect to pendulous fruits form that are mostly urn shaped with a length of and a width of . The fruits have a descending disc with three or four exserted valves. The brown-grey seeds within the fruit have an ovoid or flattened-ovoid shape.


Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus moderata'' was first formally described in 1991 by the botanists
Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian taxonomic botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for the whole of his professional career, as a botanist (19 ...
and Ken Hill in the journal '' Telopea''. The
specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
is taken from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
word ''moderatus'' meaning "moderate" in reference to the medium sized habit and leaves, buds and fruit of the plant compared to its closest relatives.


Distribution

It is found on flats, slopes and road verges in the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields-Esperance region growing in sandy-loamy soils over
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...
or
laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
. The species is associated with the western mallee subgroup which is characterised by several eucalypts including '' E. oleosa'', '' E. eremophila'', '' E. incrassata'', '' E. foecunda'', '' E. redunca'' and '' E. uncinata''. The understorey is predominantly shrubby with species of ''
Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...
'' and ''
Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...
'' along with the occasional '' Triodia''.


See also

* List of ''Eucalyptus'' species


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15397695 moderata Endemic flora of Western Australia Mallees (habit) Myrtales of Australia Eucalypts of Western Australia Trees of Australia Plants described in 1999 Taxa named by Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Taxa named by Ken Hill (botanist)