''Eucalyptus brownii'', commonly known as the Brown's box or Reid River box, is a species

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 ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. It is a small to medium-sized tree with hard, tough, fissured bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of eleven to fifteen, white flowers and usually cup-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus brownii'' is a species of tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, hard, fibrous-flaky bark with whitish patches, pale and patchy grey or grey-brown in colour and is persistent on the trunk and on the larger branches. Leaves on young plants and on

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 are arranged alternately, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped, long, wide and have 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 ...

. The adult leaves are the same glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped, long, wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf

axil A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

s in groups of eleven, thirteen or fifteen on a peduncle long, the individual flowers on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long. Mature buds are oval, long, wide with a rounded operculum. Flowering mainly occurs from August to October and the flowers are a creamy-white colour. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped or sometimes bell-shaped capsule long and wide on a pedicel long, the valves eclosed or level with the rim.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus brownii'' was first formally described 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

Richard Hind Cambage Richard Hind Cambage (7 November 1859 – 28 November 1928) was an Australian surveyor and botanist who made important contributions to the description of the genera ''Acacia'' and ''Eucalyptus''. Early life Cambage, son of John Fisher Cambag ...

from specimens collected by Nicholas Daley along the Reid River near

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

in 1912. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''brownii'') honours

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

Distribution and habitat

Brown's box grows on plains and gentle slopes in central eastern

. It is found between the

Connors River The Connors River is a river and anabranch in Central Queensland, Australia. Formed by the confluence of the Collaroy Creek and Whelan Creek, east of the settlement of Lotus Creek, the headwaters of the river rise below the Chinaman Ridges in t ...

south of

Sarina Sarina is a rural town and coastal Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Sarina had a population of 5,619 people. Geography Sarina lies just inland of the east coa ...

, Barcaldine,

Hughenden Hughenden may refer to: *Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia * Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada *Hughenden Valley, a village in Buckinghamshire, England *Hughenden Manor, a mansion in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Eng ...

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

and

. It is often found as part of open woodland communities along with ''

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

'' with a shrub layer of ''

Eremophila mitchellii ''Eremophila mitchellii'', known commonly as false sandalwood and several other names, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a glabrous large shrub or small tree with flaky bark, white or ...

'', '' Psydrax oleifolia'', ''

Flindersia maculosa ''Flindersia maculosa'', commonly known as leopardwood or leopard tree, is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to inland areas of eastern Australia. It has mottled bark, simple leaves arranged in opposite pairs, white to cre ...

'' and ''

Lysiphyllum ''Lysiphyllum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes nine species of trees, semi-scandent shrubs, and lianas which range from India through Southeast Asia to Australasia. Typical habitats include seasonally-d ...

'' species on clay soils in Cainozoic plains or in association with ''

Eucalyptus cambageana ''Eucalyptus cambageana'', commonly known as the Dawson River blackbutt, Dawson gum or Coowarra box, is a species of tree that is endemic to Queensland, Australia. It is a medium-sized tree with hard, rough bark on the lower trunk, smooth white t ...

'' and '' E. crebra'' in woodlands on low metamorphic rises.

References

{{Authority control brownii Flora of Queensland Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1914 Taxa named by Joseph Maiden