''Eucalyptus vernicosa'', commonly known as varnished gum, is a species of shrub or a 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 mountainous areas of Tasmania. It has smooth greyish bark, crowded, egg-shaped to elliptical or round leaves, flower buds singly or in groups of three in leaf axils, white flowers and hemispherical or bell-shaped fruit.

Description

''Eucalyptus vernicosa'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of or a mallee to and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth grey or greyish brown bark. 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 crowded, sessile, glossy green, egg-shaped leaves that are long and wide and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are crowded, glossy green, egg-shaped to elliptical or round, long and wide with a rounded base, on a petiole long, arranged in opposite pairs or alternately. The flower buds are arranged in groups of three in leaf axils on an unbranched peduncle up to long, the individual buds sessile or almost so. Sometimes two of the buds in a group are lost so the buds appear singly. Mature buds are oval, long and wide, greenish brown and finely wrinkled with a conical operculum that is shorter than the floral cup. Flowering occurs in most months, peaking from December to February and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody hemispherical or bell-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.

Taxonomy

''Eucalyptus vernicosa'' was first formally described in 1847 by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...

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 ...

's ''London Journal of Botany'' from specimens collected by Ronald Campbell Gunn on "Mount Fatigue, altitude 4000 feet". A specimen of '' Actinotus bellidoides'' held in the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

, also collected on "Mount Fatigue" gives its location as "about 12 to 16 miles S.S.W. off he StClair and about 4000 ft High an Dieman's Land. Mount Arrowsmith is found at approximately this location, and was named "Fatigue Hill" until 1855. 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 ...

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 ''vernicosus'' meaning "varnished" or "shining", referring to the glossy appearance of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''Eucalyptus vernicosa'' is

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, and is only found in alpine regions in the west to southwest, including

Cradle Mountain Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. At above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mount ...

. It grows between 700m and 1350m above sea level, usually on peaty acid soils on top of quartzite or

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

bedrock. It is usually found above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

, and can be a dominant component of alpine heath communities, along with '' Richea'', '' Athrotaxis'', and '' Orites''. This habitat typically has high average rainfall varying from 1000mm to 2500mm per year, and very cold winters with continuous frosts and snow for several months. The harsh climate and nutritiously poor soils probably explain the small size and tough leaves. ''Eucalyptus vernicosa'' has been traditionally cited as an example of a morphological continuum with '' E. johnstonii'', and '' E. subcrenulata''. A study from Mount Arrowsmith showed a strong relationship within those three species, linking altitude with changes in glaucousness, leaf morphology, growth rates, habit, capsule shape, bark thickness and degree of frost resistance. It was suggested that they represented close relatives of one species that was diverging to adapt to an environmental cline. However more recent genetic studies show that ''E. vernicosa'' is more distantly related to the ''E. johnstonii/E. subcrenulata'' complex, and the apparent morphological clinal intergradation between ''E. vernicosa'' and ''E. subcrenulata'' is probably a result of parallel evolution.

Uses

Use in horticulture

A number of Tasmanian alpine Eucalypts, including ''E. vernicosa'', are grown as ornamental trees and shrubs in Europe, and especially in the United Kingdom, due to their

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

habit and similarity of climate.

Essential oils

In the early 20th century ''E. vernicosa'' was harvested for its oil, which was believed to have medicinal properties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eucalyptus vernicosa vernicosa Endemic flora of Tasmania Myrtales of Australia Medicinal plants of Australia Plants described in 1847 Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker