''Eucalyptus nortonii'', commonly known as bundy, mealy bundy or long-leaved box, is a species of small 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 south-eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It has rough, thick, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth greyish bark on the thinnest branches, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped or cylindrical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus nortonii'' 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 ...

. It has rough, coarse, thick, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and larger branches, sometimes smooth greyish bark on the thinnest branches. 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 are

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), ...

and 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 ...

, heart-shaped to more or less round leaves that are long, wide and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are the same shade of dull bluish or greyish green to glaucous on both sides, long and wide, tapering to 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 in groups of seven on an unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds sessile or 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 ...

up to long. Mature buds are oblong to oval, long and wide with a conical operculum. Flowering mainly occurs from January to April and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped or cylindrical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

Bundy was first formally described in 1934 by

William Blakely William Faris Blakely (November 1875 – 1 September 1941) was an Australian botanist and collector. From 1913 to 1940 he worked in the National Herbarium of New South Wales, working with Joseph Maiden on ''Eucalyptus''. Maiden named a red gum ...

who gave it the name ''Eucalyptus × cordieri'' var. ''nortonii'' and published the description in his book, ''A Key to the Eucalypts''. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

specimens were collected by the

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper ow ...

Alfred Ernest Norton near

Nundle Nundle is a village in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It was formerly the centre of Nundle Shire, but most of this area, including the village of Nundle, was absorbed into Tamworth Regional Council in 2004. The village ...

. In 1962,

Lawrie Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian taxonomic botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for the whole of his professional career, as a botanist (1948–1 ...

changed the name to ''E. nortonii''.

Distribution and habitat

''Eucalyptus nortonii'' is widespread and locally common in open woodland on dry, rocky sites on the tablelands of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory south from Manilla. It also occurs in central and eastern Victoria, including near

Suggan Buggan Suggan Buggan is a locality in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It is located on the border with New South Wales. At the 2021 census, Suggan Buggan had a population of 5. The traditional custodians of the area are the Austral ...

and Whitfield and from Castlemaine to the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15353567 nortonii Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Trees of Australia Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Plants described in 1934 Taxa named by William Blakely