''Eucalyptus angustissima'', or narrow-leaved mallee, is a small tree that is native to the south of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Distribution is scattered in southern coastal and subcoastal areas. The tree is endemic to Western Australia.

Description

It is a mallee

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

that grows from about 1 to 4 metres in height. The bark is smooth or matt, mottled grey and very white/grey or light grey-brown. Its juvenile leaves are 4.5 to 8 cm long and 0.3 to 0.4 cm wide The adult leaves are 7 to 11.5 cm long and very narrow (0.15 to 0.3 cm wide). The buds occur in clusters of up to 7 and are followed by creamy-white flowers that appear between August and January and hemispherical fruits 0.5 to 0.8 cm wide. The crown is often very dense and not immediately recognisable as a eucalypt. There are two recognised

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

: * ''Eucalyptus angustissima'' subsp.''angustissima'' * ''Eucalyptus angustissima'' subsp. ''quaerenda''

Taxonomy

First 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 in his series of papers ''

Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae ''Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'' is a series of papers written by the Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in which he published many of his approximately 2000 descriptions of new taxa of Australian plants. Including the p ...

'' in 1863 from samples collected by

George Maxwell George Maxwell (1804–1880) was a professional collector of plants and insects in Southwest Australia. The botanical specimens he obtained were used to make formal descriptions of the region's plant species. Biography Maxwell was born in England ...

near Point Maxwell. ''E. angustissima'' subsp. ''quaerenda'' was described in the journal '' Telopea'' in 1992 by L.A.S.Johnson and K.D.Hill from samples collected by Johnson and Maxwell from near Lake Chinocup.

Distribution

The species is often on saline flats or around saltpans or on sandhills. It will grow in white or grey sands, clay, loam, sometimes saline soils in scrubland or woodland areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q151031 Eucalypts of Western Australia Trees of Australia angustissima Myrtales of Australia Mallees (habit) Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Plants described in 1863

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

See also

References