''Eucalyptus capitellata'', commonly known as brown stringybark, is a species of tree that is

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 ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It is a small to medium-sized tree with rough, stringy bark from the trunk to the thinnest branches, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, spindle-shaped or oblong flower buds in groups of seven or more, white flowers and clusters of flattened hemispherical fruit. Eucalyptus capitellata buds

Description

''Eucalyptus capitellata'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of 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 respons ...

. The bark is rough, stringy, grey to brownish and extends from the trunk to the smaller branches. The 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 in opposite pairs near the ends of the stems, egg-shaped to broadly lance-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on 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 ...

long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven, nine, eleven or more on an unbranched peduncle long and the individual buds are usually

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 ...

. Mature buds are spindle-shaped to oval, long and wide with a conical operculum. Flowering mainly occurs between December and February and the flowers are white. The fruit are woody, flattened hemispherical capsules, long, wide and clustered together with the valves at the about the same level as the rim.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus capitellata'' was first formally described in 1795 by James Edward Smith in his book, ''

A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland ''A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland'', also known by its standard abbreviation ''Spec. Bot. New Holland'', was the first published book on the flora of Australia. Written by James Edward Smith and illustrated by James Sowerby, it was publ ...

''. Smith noted that a drawing of the fruit of this species had previously been published on page 226 of the book by

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

surgeon and naturalist John White, ''Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales'' but incorrectly ascribed to ''

Eucalyptus piperita ''Eucalyptus piperita'', commonly known as Sydney peppermint and urn-fruited peppermint, is a small to medium forest tree native to New South Wales, Australia. Description It has grey, rough and finely fibrous bark on its trunk, but its branches ...

''. 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 ...

(''capitellata'') is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word meaning "with a little head", possibly referring to the clusters of fruit.

Distribution and habitat

Brown stringybark grows in open forest or woodland, usually in poor, sandy soil in coastal areas between Karuah and Nerriga in New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405563 capitellata Flora of New South Wales Myrtales of Australia Trees of Australia Plants described in 1795 Taxa named by James Edward Smith