''Eucalyptus kitsoniana'', commonly known as the Gippsland mallee or bog gum, is a species of small tree or mallee and 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 elsew ...

to Victoria. It has mostly smooth bark, a crown containing juvenile, intermediate and adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and

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 ...

, cup-shaped to hemispherical fruit. Eucalyptus kitsoniana buds

Description

''Eucalyptus kitsoniana'' is a tree or mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth white to grey bark, sometimes with accumulated slabs of rough bark near the base and ribbons of shed bark above. The crown contains a mixture of juvenile, intermediate and adult leaves. Juvenile leaves are sessile, arranged in opposite pairs, a lighter shade of green on the lower side, broadly lance-shaped to more or less round, up to long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same glossy green on both sides, long and wide on a flattened petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven on an unbranched

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long, the individual buds sessile and the groups surrounded by

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s when young. Mature buds are oval to oblong, long and wide with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering occurs between August and March and the flowers are white. The fruit is a sessile, cup-shaped to hemispherical capsule, long and wide, the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus kitsoniana'' was first formally described in 1916 by

Joseph Maiden Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...

and the description was published in his book ''A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus''. 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 ...

honours the geologist

Albert Ernest Kitson Sir Albert Ernest Kitson, (21 March 1868 – 8 March 1937) was a British-Australian geologist, naturalist, and winner of the Lyell Medal in 1927. Early life Kitson was born in North Street, Audenshaw, Cheshire, England, the son of John ...

who was a keen naturalist.Stan Kelly, George McCartney Chippendale, R. D. Johnston, ''Eucalypts'', Nelson 1969, page 42. N. Hall, ''Botanists of the Eucalypts: Short Biographies of People who Have Named Eucalypts, Whose Names Have Been Given to Species Or who Have Collected Type Material'', Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, 1977, pages 79–80

Distribution and habitat

The Gippsland mallee is endemic to Victoria and is found near watercourse inland and on coastal plains, often growing in small, pure stands. It mainly occurs between Yarram and Cape Otway, near

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

and on

Wilsons Promontory Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria. South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearb ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405609 kitsoniana Flora of Victoria (state) Plants described in 1916 Taxa named by Joseph Maiden