''Eucalyptus tenella'', commonly known as narrow-leaved stringybark, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to New South Wales. It has stringy bark, narrow lance-shaped to linear leaves, flower buds in group of seven to fifteen, white flowers and hemispherical fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus tenella'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has thick, fibrous, furrowed, stringy bark usually coloured grey over reddish brown. Young plants and coppice regrowth have glossy green leaves that a paler on the lower surface, narrow lance-shaped to linear, long and wide. Adult leaves are narrow lance-shaped to linear or curved, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

s in groups of seven to fifteen on an unbranched

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long, the individual buds sessile or on pedicels up to long. Mature buds are oval to spindle-shaped, long and wide with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering occurs from September to March and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody spherical or hemispherical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eucalyptus tenella'' was first formally described in 1991 by Lawrie Johnson and Ken Hill in the journal '' Telopea'' from specimens Johnson collected near

Capertee Capertee pronounced ( ) is a village 46 km north of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. It is on an elevated site (808 metres) above the Capertee Valley. In 2016, the township had a population of 145 people. The Castlereagh Highway (previo ...

in 1968. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''tenella'') is from the Latin ''tenellus'' meaning "somewhat delicate", referring to the small leaves.

Distribution and habitat

Narrow-leaved stringybark grows in dry woodland in shallow soils between

Rylstone Rylstone is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated very near to Cracoe and about 6 miles south west of Grassington. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 160. Ryls ...

and Nowra.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405719 tenella Myrtales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Plants described in 1991