''Eucalyptus roycei'', commonly known as Shark Bay mallee, is a species of mallee or a 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 a small area along the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gascoyne has about of ...

coast of Western Australia. It has rough fibrous or flaky bark on the lower trunk, smooth greyish bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, cream-coloured or pale yellow flowers and cylindrical to barrel-shaped, four-sided fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus roycei'' is a mallee or a small tree that typically that 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 fibrous or flaky greyish bark at the base, smooth greyish to cream-coloured bark above. 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 egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of dull greyish green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide, tapering to 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 seven or nine on an unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds 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 cylindrical to oval, long and wide with a conical to rounded operculum and a four-sided floral cup. Flowering occurs between January and March and the flowers are white, cream-coloured or pale yellow. The fruit is a woody, cylindrical to barrel-shaped, four-sided capsule long wide with the valves below the level of the rim.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus roycei'' was first formally described in 1970 by Maisie Carr, Denis Carr and Alex George in '' Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria''. 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. * ...

specimen was collected near Hamelin Pool in 1966 by Eleanor Marion Scrymgeour and Maisie Carr. 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 ...

(''roycei'') honours Robert Dunlop Royce who was a member of the staff of the

Western Australian Herbarium The Western Australian Herbarium is the state Herbarium, situated in Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It houses a collection of more than 845,000 dried specimens of plants, algae, bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts), lichens, fu ...

Distribution

Shark Bay mallee is found on sand plains in the

region centred around

Shark Bay Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...

where it grows in red calcareous sandy soils. The mallee is part of the tree heath community found in Shark Bay at the overlap of the South West botanical province and the Eremaean botanical province. Associated species include '' Eucalyptus beardiana'', '' Grevillea rogersoniana'', '' Acacia drepanophylla'', ''

Banksia ashbyi ''Banksia ashbyi'', commonly known as Ashby's banksia, is a species of shrub or small tree that is Endemism, endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth, grey bark, deeply serrated, hairy leaves and spikes of bright orange flowers. Descripti ...

'' and '' Grevillea rogersoniana''.

Use in horticulture

The plant is fast-growing and is wind-, drought- and frost-tolerant. It is usually grown in a full-sun position in well-drained soils. Although it is not regarded as a very attractive tree, it is available commercially for bush or park settings.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7213058 Eucalypts of Western Australia Trees of Australia roycei Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1970 Taxa named by Alex George Taxa named by Maisie Carr

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

Use in horticulture

See also

References