Eucalyptus forrestiana

Fuschia gum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Eucalyptus
Species: E. forrestiana
Binomial name
Eucalyptus forrestiana
Diels
Eucalyptus forrestiana in a garden setting
Foliage and flowers

Eucalyptus forrestiana, commonly known as Fuchsia gum, Fuchsia mallee, Forrest's mallee or Forrest's marlock, is a small tree which occurs in an area near Esperance in Western Australia.[1] It was named after the Scottish botanist George Forrest (1873-1932).

Description

It is a mallee Eucalyptus with smooth bark and grows to between 1.5 and to 6 metres in height. It has bright four-sided red buds and yellow flowers which appear between summer and winter from January to June.[1] The tree forms a dense dark green canopy and has smooth light brown-grey bark which is deciduous in long strips during late summer.[2] The bark becomes darker grey as it ages.[3] The adult leaves are disjunct, glossy, green, thick, and concolorous. The leaf blade is lanceolate to elliptic in shape and tapers toward the base. The simple conflorescence is axillary with one to three flowered umbellasters. Buds are clavate with a calyx calyptrate that sheds early and yellow flowers. The fruits are pyriform with a depressed disc and enclosed valves.[4]

Two closely related species, E. dolichorhyncha and E. stoatei, have been treated as subspecies in the past.[5]

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist Ludwig Diels in 1904 as part of Georg August Pritzel's work Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Pflanzen Westaustraliens, ihrer Verbreitung und ihrer Lebensverhaltnisse. Botanische Jahrbucher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie. The only synonym is Eucalyptus forrestiana Diels subsp. forrestiana as described by Ian Brooker in 1974 in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia.[6]

Distribution

The species is found around salt lakes and on sand plains in a small area along the south coast between Ravensthorpe and Cape Arid National Park to the east of Esperance in Western Australia, where it grows in clay-sandy soils.[1]

It is also commonly used as a small street tree in semi-arid areas due to its highly decorative appearance[2] and ability to tolerate drought.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Eucalyptus forrestiana". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  2. 1 2 "Eucalyptus forrestiana 'Fuschia Gum'". Ellenby tree farm. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Fuchsia Mallee, Fuchsia Gum". Water Corporation. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Eucalyptus forrestiana". Eucalink. Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Eucalyptus forrestiana". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Eucalyptus forrestiana Diels". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
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