''Eucalyptus steedmanii'', commonly known as Steedman's gum
or Steedman's mallet,
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 a small region of Western Australia. It has smooth, satiny bark, narrow elliptical leaves, flower buds in groups of three, white flowers and conical, four-winged fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus steedmanii'' is a mallet that typically grows to a height of and 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 bark is smooth and satiny, ranging from grey to red-brown or a bright coppery colour. It has numerous ascending branches from low on the trunk, forming a dense crown. Adult leaves are the same glossy, olive-green on both sides, crowded with oil glands, narrow oblong to elliptical, long and wide. 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 three on a downturned, 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 yellowish-brown, spindle-shaped and square in cross-section, long and wide, the
operculum splitting into four as the bud develops. It blooms between January and March producing white flowers. The fruit is a woody, conical, four-winged
capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus steedmanii'' was first formally described by the botanist
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
Charles Gardner in 1933 in the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia
The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) promotes science in Western Australia.
The RSWA was founded in 1914, and also gained the "Royal" name in the same year. It publishes the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has ...
'' from a specimen collected by Henry Steedman
Henry Steedman (1866–1953) was a Scottish-born Australian botanist.
Born in Scotland in 1866, he emigrated to Western Australia at the age of 21. He was head gardener at the South Perth Zoological Gardens (now Perth Zoo) for many years, but was ...
south of Southern Cross
CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...
in 1928.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 ...
(''steedmanii'') honours Steedman.
Distribution and habitat
Steedman's gum is found on low hills and undulating plains between Ravensthorpe in the Goldfields-Esperance and Kondinin in the Wheatbelt region where it grows in gravelly loamy soils over ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially.
Not to be c ...
.[ Six populations are known, five of these occur on unallocated ]Crown land
Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...
, and one which is split occurs on Crown land and a road verge. It is estimated that there is a total population of 24 500 mature plants that are spread over an area of and tend to occur in pure stands.[
]
Conservation status
This mallet was listed as Vulnerable in 2008 under the ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...
'' and as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia)
The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was formed on 1 July 2006 ...
.
See also
* List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355733
Eucalypts of Western Australia
steedmanii
Myrtales of Australia
Plants described in 1934
Taxa named by Charles Gardner