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''Eucalyptus sparsa'', commonly known as the northern ranges box, is a species of mallee that is
''Eucalyptus sparsa'', commonly known as the northern ranges box, is a species of mallee 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 inland Australia, near the border between the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia border. It has smooth pale grey and brown bark, often with rough bark on the base of larger trunks, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of seven, white flowers and shortened spherical to conical fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus sparsa'' is a mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms alignotuber
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 smooth pale grey to pale brown bark, often with rough, fibrous or flaky bark on larger trunks. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped, 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 on the ends of branchlets, usually in groups of seven, on a branched 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 oval, long and wide with a conical to hemispherical operculum. Flowering occurs from July to September or from January to February and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody shortened spherical to conical capsule long and wide with the valves usually below rim level.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus sparsa'' was first formally described in 1979 byClifford David Boomsma
Clifford David Boomsma (20 October 1915 – 13 January 2004) was an Australian forester, botanist and botanical collector.
Boomsma was born in Gawler in South Australia in 1915 and became a ward of the state at three years of age. He completed h ...
near Betty's Creek Gorge in the Everard Ranges
The Everard Ranges, officially known as The Everard Ranges, is a range of low rounded granite hills located in the Australian state of South Australia in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands about west of Mintabie. It is o ...
in 1974. 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 ...
(''sparsa'') refers to its sparse occurrence in South Australia.
Distribution and habitat
The northern ranges box grows on sand dunes and on plains and slopes on well-drained soil. It is found near the Blackstone, Petermann,Tomkinson
Tomkinson, sometimes spelled Tompkinson, is a surname, derived from the given name Thomas. Rarer spelling variants include Thompkinson, Tonkeson, and Tumkynson.
Surnames
* Francis Tomkinson (1883–1963), Cricket player
* Geoffrey Tomkinson (1 ...
and Musgrave Ranges
Musgrave Ranges is a mountain range in Central Australia, straddling the boundary of South Australia ( Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) and the Northern Territory ( MacDonnell Shire), extending into Western Australia. It is between the Gre ...
near the border between Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Conservation status
This mallee is classified as " Priority Three" by the Government of Western AustraliaDepartment of Parks and Wildlife
The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...
meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.
See also
* List of ''Eucalyptus'' speciesReferences
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355868 Eucalypts of Western Australia sparsa Myrtales of Australia Mallees (habit) Plants described in 1979