Eucalyptus coronata

Crowned mallee
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Eucalyptus
Species: E. coronata
Binomial name
Eucalyptus coronata
C.A.Gardner
Synonyms

Eucalyptus mitrata

Eucalyptus coronata, also known as the crowned mallee or the mitre gum,[1] is a eucalypt that is native to the south coast of Western Australia[2]

The multi-stemmed mallee typically grows to a height of 0.6 to 4 metres (2 to 13 ft)[2] and has a lignotuber. It has smooth pale gray to pale brown bark throughout.[3] The adult leaves are a bluish-green colour with a blade that is up to 12 centimetres (4.7 in) long and 3 cm (1.2 in) wide.[4] It blooms between April and May or July and November and produces white-cream to yellow flowers.[2] The buds occur in groups of three and are strongly ribbed and are approximately 5 cm (2.0 in) long with a diameter of 3 cm (1.2 in) It forms large fruits, up to 5 cm (2.0 in) in length long, which have a broad disc and domed, protruding valves that make them look like a crowns.[4]

E. coronata has a limited range along the south coast in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia concentrated in the Fitzgerald River National Park. It grows in skeletal sandy soils and is found on rocky quartzite hillsides.[2]

The species was first described by the botanist Charles Gardner in 1933 in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia from samples Gardner had collected near the Barren Range in 1914 and Steedman had collected in 1931 from the same area. In 1936 Eucalyptus mitrata was also described by Gardner in the same journal only for it to be found to be E. coronata.[5] It was later declared as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in 2008 and as endangered under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (Western Australia) in November 2015.[6]

The species is known from three populations, all of which are located in Fitzgerald River National Park. The total number of plants is estimated to be 140 scattered over an area of 47 square kilometres (18 sq mi). In the 1980s the total number of plants was estimated at 40 however the total number of plants recorded has fluctuated as a result of bushfires in 1989, 1990 and 2006.[4]

It is available for cultivation in home gardens[1] used as a small landscaping species, ornamental, hedging and for honey production. It is both frost and drought tolerant and will grow in a range of soil types and will cope in nutrient poor and acid soils.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Eucalyptus coronata Crowned Mallee". Nindethana Seed Company. 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Eucalyptus coronata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  3. 1 2 "Eucalyptus Coronata Crowned mallee". Windmill Outback Nursery. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Approved Conservation Advice for Eucalyptus coronata (Crowned Mallee)" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Eucalyptus coronata C. Gardner, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. Western Australia 19: 86 (1933)". Eucalink. CSIRO. 2002. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Eucalyptus coronata — Crowned Mallee". Species Profile and Threats Database. Department of the Environment. 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
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