''Corymbia confertiflora'', commonly known as broad-leaved carbeen or rough leaf cabbage gum, 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 ...

to northern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark near the base of the trunk, smooth white to pale grey bark above, a

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

of both intermediate and adult leaves, large numbers of flower buds borne on leafless sections of branchlets in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and cylindrical to barrel-shaped or bell-shaped fruit.

Description

''Corymbia confertiflora'' is an often straggly or crooked 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 ...

. It has rough, tessellated dark grey bark near the base, then abruptly white to pale grey bark above, the smooth bark shed in thin flakes. The tree is usually deciduous in the dry season. Young plants and

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 have

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 ...

round, heart-shaped or egg-shaped leaves that are long, wide and arranged in opposite pairs. The crown is composed of both intermediate and adult leaves that are the same shade of dull green on both sides, heart-shaped to broadly elliptical to egg-shaped, long, wide and more or less sessile or 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 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 on leafless parts of branchlets on a much-branched peduncle that is up to long. The buds are arranged in groups of seven or more on each branch of the peduncle, on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

long. Mature buds are pear-shaped, long and wide with a rounded, sometimes pointed operculum. Flowering occurs from July to December and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody cylindrical, barrel-shaped or bell-shaped capsule long and wide and thin-walled with the valves enclosed in the fruit.

Taxonomy and naming

The broad-leaved carbeen was first formally described in an 1859 manuscript by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

who gave it the name ''Eucalyptus floribunda''. The name ''E. floribunda'' was already in use (now ''

Angophora floribunda ''Angophora floribunda'', commonly known as the rough-barked apple, is a common woodland and forest tree of the family Myrtaceae native to Eastern Australia. Reaching 30 m (100 ft) high, it is a large tree with fibrous bark and cream-wh ...

'') and when

Richard Kippist Richard Kippist (11 June 1812 – 14 January 1882) was an English botanist and librarian. Life Kippist was born in Stoke Newington, London, on 11 June 1812. He worked as a clerk in the office of Joseph Woods, F.L.S., architect, with whom he sha ...

entered Mueller's description in the '' Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany'', he changed the name to ''E. confertiflora''. Under the rules of botanical nomenclature, the name is therefore attributed to Kippist, even though Mueller supplied the description. In 1995 Kenneth Hill and

Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic botany, botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for the whole of his professional car ...

changed the name to ''Corymbia confertiflora'' in the journal '' Telopea''. 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 ...

(''confertiflora'') is derived from the

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 ...

''confertus'' meaning "crowded" and ''-florus'' meaning "-flowered", referring to the crowded flowers.

Distribution and habitat

''Corymbia confertiflora'' is widespread in northern Australia and occurs from the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of Western Australia, through the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ...

of the Northern Territory and south-eastern

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

, then near-coastal areas around the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

to 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 ...

and the

Kennedy River Kennedy may refer to: People * Kennedy (surname), including any of several people with that surname ** Kennedy family, a prominent American political family that includes: *** Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (1888–1969), American businessman, investor, ...

in Queensland. It grows in open woodland and forest on plains and

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

s, and is often associated with limestone.

Traditional ecological knowledge

''Corymbia confertiflora'' is named 'Boonbany' by the Gija people of the East Kimberley region of north-western Australia and is an important source of fuel for fires, especially in Warn'gan ('Cold Time').

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15397574 confertiflora Myrtales of Australia Rosids of Western Australia Plants described in 1859 Taxa named by Richard Kippist

Description

Taxonomy and naming

Distribution and habitat

Traditional ecological knowledge

See also

References