''Eucalyptus surgens'' 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 a small area on the south coast of Western Australia. It has rough bark near the base of the stems, glossy green lance-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy yellow flowers and cup-shaped to cylindrical fruit.
Description
''Eucalyptus surgens'' is a mallee that typically grows to a height of , 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 ...
and has smooth bark apart from some rough bark near the base of the trunk. 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 dull bluish green, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves that are long, wide and
petiolate. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy light green on both sides, lance-shaped, up to 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 on a thick, unbranched
peduncle long, the individual buds on short
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 ...
. Mature buds have a bell-shaped
floral cup and a cap-shaped
operculum about long, wide and shorter than the floral cup. The flowers are creamy yellow and the fruit is a woody, cup-shaped to cylindrical
capsule about long and wide with the valves below rim level.
Taxonomy and naming
''Eucalyptus surgens'' was first formally described in 1993 by
Ian Brooker
Murray Ian Hill Brooker Order of Australia, AM (2 June 1934 – 25 June 2016), better known as Ian Brooker, was an Australian botanist. He was widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus ''Eucalyptus''.
Ian Brooker was born in Adelai ...
and
Stephen Hopper in the journal ''
Nuytsia'' from specimens collected by Hopper near
Toolinna Cove in 1989.
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 ...
(''surgens'') is a
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 meaning "rising", referring to a prominent vertical scar on the rim of the fruit.
Distribution and habitat
This mallee is only known from 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.
* ...
location near the coast on the western edge of the
Nullarbor Plain
The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...
.
See also
*
List of ''Eucalyptus'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15356039
Eucalypts of Western Australia
surgens
Myrtales of Australia
Mallees (habit)
Taxa named by Ian Brooker
Taxa named by Stephen Hopper
Plants described in 1993