''Eucalyptus spathulata'', commonly known as swamp mallet, narrow leaved gimlet or swamp gimlet, is a species of

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. General overview The term is descriptive of the ...

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 Western Australia. It has a dense

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 ...

, smooth, satin-like bark, glossy green, linear leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to conical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus spathulata'' is a low-branching mallet with a dense crown that typically grows to a height of but does not form 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 trunk usually has a diameter of but can be even larger for older trees, and it is usually relatively short, sometimes fluted at the base. The bark is smooth, satin-like, greyish brown or reddish brown on the trunk and branches. Young plants have linear leaves that are long and wide and

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 ...

or have a short

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 ...

. Adult leaves are linear, the same shade of glossy green on both sides, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flowers 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 three or seven 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 oval to spindle-shaped, long and wide with a horn-shaped or conical operculum two or three times as long as the floral cup. Flowering occurs between December and March and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped to conical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus spathulata'' was formally described in 1844 by botanist

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botany, botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew Gardens, Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botan ...

in his book ''

Icones Plantarum ''Icones Plantarum'' is an extensive series of published volumes of botanical illustration, initiated by Sir William Jackson Hooker. The Latin name of the work means "Illustrations of Plants". The illustrations are drawn from herbarium specimens of ...

'', from specimens collected near the Swan River by James Drummond. 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 ...

(''spathulata'') is 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 ...

word ''spathulatus'', meaning spoon-like or a broad rounded upper part tapering gradually downward into a stalk. Why the name was chosen is unknown. Two subspecies are recognised by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...

: *''E. spathulata'' subsp. ''salina'' D.Nicolle & Brooker is distinguished from the

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

by its larger fruit ( x ); *''E. spathulata'' Hook. subsp. ''spathulata'' has smaller fruit than subspecies ''spathulata'' ( x ).

Distribution and habitat

Swamp mallet is found on flats, broad valley floors, on rises, in and around saline depressions and along the edges of

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

s in the southern Wheatbelt and inland Great Southern regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy or sandy-clay soils over

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. Subspecies ''spathulata'' is found in the

Blackwood River The Blackwood River is a major river and catchment in the South West (Western Australia), South West of Western Australia. Course The river begins at the junction of Arthur River (Western Australia), Arthur River and Balgarup River near Que ...

and

Pallinup River The Pallinup River is a river located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It was previously known as Salt River. The Pallinup rises 10 km southeast of Broomehill, and flows in a southeasterly direction toward the coast pas ...

drainage systems. Subspecies ''salina'' is restricted to the more northerly Salt River catchment. The species grows in woodland communities with an understorey that contains a variety of melaleuca species including '' M. acuminata'', '' M. pauperiflora'', '' M. lateriflora'', '' M. brophyi'' and '' M. uncinata'' group. Other associated species include '' Bossiaea halophila'', ''

Gahnia ancistrophylla ''Gahnia ancistrophylla'', also known as hooked-leaf saw sedge, is a tussock-forming perennial in the family Cyperaceae, that is native to southern parts of Western Australia, South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) i ...

'' and '' Brachyscome lineariloba'', all well suited to calcareous, saline low-lying areas.

Conservation status

Subspecies ''spathulata'' is classified as "not threatened" in Western Australia by the Western Australian Government

Department 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 ...

, but subspecies ''salina'' is listed as " Priority Three", meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.

Use in horticulture

''Eucalyptus spathulata'' has a high to moderate growth rate and can live to over 15 years. It is widely cultivated in southern Australia and can be grown in saline and poorly drained situations. The tree's wood is dense, hard and pale brown in colour and can be used as a source of fuelwood and craftwood. It is planted in gardens as an ornamental and as a windbreak, and produces pollen desirable for apiculture. The bark is rich in

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

and the leaves contain

cineole Eucalyptol (also called cineole) is a monoterpenoid colorless liquid, and a bicyclic ether. It has a fresh camphor-like odor and a spicy, cooling taste. It is insoluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Eucalyptol makes up about ...

. The tree is both

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

and

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

tolerant and can withstand salt laden winds. The tree has also been cultivated in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405715 Eucalypts of Western Australia Trees of Australia spathulata Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1844 Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker