''Eucalyptus vernicosa'', commonly known as varnished gum, is a species of shrub 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 else ...

to mountainous areas of Tasmania. It has smooth greyish bark, crowded, egg-shaped to elliptical or round leaves, flower buds singly or in groups of three in leaf axils, white flowers and hemispherical or bell-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus vernicosa'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of or a mallee to and 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 ...

. It has smooth grey or greyish brown bark. Young plants and

coppice Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeate ...

regrowth have crowded,

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, glossy green, egg-shaped leaves that are long and wide and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are crowded, glossy green, egg-shaped to elliptical or round, long and wide with a rounded base, on a petiole long, arranged in opposite pairs or alternately. The flower buds are arranged in groups of three in leaf axils on an unbranched peduncle up to long, the individual buds sessile or almost so. Sometimes two of the buds in a group are lost so the buds appear singly. Mature buds are oval, long and wide, greenish brown and finely wrinkled with a conical operculum that is shorter than the floral cup. Flowering occurs in most months, peaking from December to February and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody hemispherical or bell-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus vernicosa'' was first formally described in 1847 by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

in William Jackson Hooker's ''London Journal of Botany'' from specimens collected by Ronald Campbell Gunn on "Mount Fatigue, altitude 4000 feet". A specimen of '' Actinotus bellidoides'' held in the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

, also collected on "Mount Fatigue" gives its location as "about 12 to 16 miles S.S.W. off he StClair and about 4000 ft High an Dieman's Land. Mount Arrowsmith is found at approximately this location, and was named "Fatigue Hill" until 1855. The specific epithet is 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 of the ...

word ''vernicosus'' meaning "varnished" or "shining", referring to the glossy appearance of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''Eucalyptus vernicosa'' is

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, and is only found in

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

regions in the west to southwest, including

Cradle Mountain Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. At above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mount ...

. It grows between 700m and 1350m above sea level, usually on peaty acid soils on top of

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

bedrock. It is usually found above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...

, and can be a dominant component of alpine heath communities, along with

Richea ''Richea'' is a genus of 11 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. Nine of the species are endemic to Tasmania and the other two are endemic to the south-east of the Australian mainland. Species include: *'' Richea acerosa'' (Lin ...

Athrotaxis ''Athrotaxis'' is a genus of two to three species (depending on taxonomic opinion) of conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. The genus is endemic to western Tasmania, where they grow in high altitude temperate rainforests.Farjon, A. (200 ...

, and

Orites ''Orites'' is a genus of 9 known species, 7 endemic to Australia (4 of which occur in Tasmania) and 2 in South America; 1 in the Chilean Andes and 1 in Bolivia. Species This listing was sourced from the ''Australian Plant Name Index'' and ot ...

. This habitat typically has high average rainfall varying from 1000mm to 2500mm per year, and very cold winters with continuous frosts and snow for several months. The harsh climate and nutritiously poor soils probably explain the small size and tough leaves. ''Eucalyptus vernicosa'' has been traditionally cited as an example of a morphological continuum with '' E. johnstonii'', and '' E. subcrenulata''. A study from Mount Arrowsmith showed a strong relationship within those three species, linking altitude with changes in glaucousness, leaf morphology, growth rates, habit, capsule shape, bark thickness and degree of frost resistance. It was suggested that they represented close relatives of one species that was diverging to adapt to an environmental cline. However more recent genetic studies show that ''E. vernicosa'' is more distantly related to the ''E. johnstonii/E. subcrenulata'' complex, and the apparent morphological clinal intergradation between ''E. vernicosa'' and ''E. subcrenulata'' is probably a result of

parallel evolution Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.Zhang, J. and Kumar, S. 1997Detection of convergent and paral ...

Uses

Use in horticulture

A number of Tasmanian alpine Eucalypts, including ''E. vernicosa'', are grown as ornamental trees and shrubs in Europe, and especially in the United Kingdom, due to their

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

habit and similarity of climate.

Essential oils

In the early 20th century ''E. vernicosa'' was harvested for its oil, which was believed to have medicinal properties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eucalyptus vernicosa vernicosa Endemic flora of Tasmania Myrtales of Australia Medicinal plants of Australia Plants described in 1847 Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker