Corymbia grandifolia (R.Br. ex Benth.) K.D.Hill & L.A.S.Johnson
MYRTACEAE
Synonymy
Common Name: Corymbia, Large-leaf Cabbage Gum, Large-leaved Cabbage Gum, Paper-fruited Bloodwood
Aboriginal Language Names: Jaminjung, Ngaliwurru, Nungali: Ganbag (Jam, Ngal, Nung). MalakMalak, Matngala: Menyikerrik (Mal), Menykerrwek (Mat).. MalakMalak, Matngala: Menyikerrik (Mal), Menykerrwek (Mat).. Mangarrayi, Yangman: Garrwag (Mang), Garrawadin (Yang).. Ngarinyman: Warlarri. Wagiman: bolomin
Description: Tree 20 m tall, deciduous in the dry season. Forming a lignotuber. Bark smooth, white to pale grey, shedding in thin flakes. Branchlets lack oil glands in the pith; usually smooth but newest branchlets may be sparsely setose with bristle-glands. Juvenile growth (coppice or field seedlings to 50 cm): stems rounded in cross-section, setose with bristle-glands at least in the lower part; juvenile leaves always petiolate, opposite or becoming alternate, ovate to broadly elliptical to rounded, 13-17 cm long, 11-14 cm wide, base usually rounded to tapering, rarely lobed or truncate, green, setose with bristle-glands or at upper nodes becoming glabrous. Adult leaves alternate or opposite, petioles 0.5-1.6(2) cm long; blade elliptic-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, (6.8)8-20 cm long, 3-8.5(10.5) cm wide, undulate, base rounded to tapering, margin entire or distantly and irregularly scalloped, apex usually pointed, less commomly rounded, concolorous, glossy, green, glabrous, side-veins at greater than 45° to midrib, reticulation very dense, intramarginal vein present, oil glands small, island, or obscure. Inflorescences borne on now leafless branchlets below new seasons growth, axillary compound, appearing congested with the basal internode only ca 0.4 cm long and peduncles 0-0.2 cm long; buds 3 or 7 per umbel, strongly pedicellate (pedicels 0.8-2.5 cm). Mature buds pyriform, 1-1.2 cm long, 0.7-0.9 cm wide, scar present (outer operculum shed early), operculum shallowly rounded, sometimes coarsely apiculate to umbonate, stamens inflexed, all fertile, anthers oblong, dorsifixed, versatile, dehiscing by longitudinal slits, style long and straight, stigma tapered, locules 3, the ovules not arranged in distinct vertical rows on the placentae. Flowers creamy white. Fruit pedicellate (pedicels 0.7-2.6 cm long), cupular to cylindrical or sometimes urceolate with rim slightly flared above a constriction, 1-1.7 cm long, 0.8-1.4 cm wide, disc descending vertically, valves 3, enclosed. Seeds brown, 4-7 mm long, saucer-shaped, smooth, hilum ventral.
Diagnostic Characters: It characteristically has a smooth whitish trunk, lacks rough bark, and has a glossy large-leaved crown that is deciduous in the dry season.
Similar Taxa: The species most likely to be confused with E. grandifolia is C. flavescens which occurs just south of the range of C. grandifolia.
|
|
|
|
Notes: There are three subspecies primarily separated by crown leaf features and pedicel length:subsp. grandifoliaDistinguished from the other subspecies by having elliptic-oblong to ovate-lanceolate glabrous crown leaves that are rounded or tapering at the base, relatively short petioles 0.5–2 cm long and buds with pedicels 0.8-2.5 cm long when mature.Found in wetter and also somewhat drier parts of the monsoonal Top End of the Northern Territory east from Maningrida in northern Arnhem Land, Pine Creek and Katherine, through the Gulf of Carpentaria hinterland to Normanton and the Gilbert River near Forsayth in Queensland, occurring also on Groote Eylandt and Allan and Sweers Islands in the Gulf. It is the only subspecies to occur in Queensland.subsp. longa Has petioles 0.9–3.3 cm long, pedicels of mature buds 1.9–3.7 cm long, and fruit that are usually longer and more consistently urceolate than the other two subspecies. Leaves are predominantly ovate-elliptic and glabrous.Occurs from Wyndham and Kununurra in Western Australia, east into sub-coastal areas of the Top End of the Northern Territory west of the Stuart Highway, to Adelaide River, Manton River and Oenpelli, and also on Bathurst and Melville Islands.subsp. lamprocardiaDistinguished by the crown leaves which are predominantly deltoid to cordate, i.e. broad with truncate or lobed bases, and widest in the basal third of the lamina. The lamina is frequently sparsely setose or sandpapery which makes it appear less glossy than the other subspecies. The petioles, pedicels and fruit generally overlap in length with those on specimens the other subspecies, but are never as long as the longest petioles, pedicels and fruit of subsp. longa.Distributed from the central Kimberley region, e.g. Inglis Gap, Adcock Gorge and Karunjie Station, east to the Carr Boyd Range and Kununurra, and Wyndham, extending east into the Northern Territory to between Willeroo and Katherine.
Distribution
- Legend:
Specimens
Observations
Cultivated
Introduced Status: Native to NT
Distribution Notes: Corymbia grandifolia is a ghost gum tree species distributed from the Mitchell Plateau and central Kimberley region of Western Australia east through the Top End of the Northern Territory, including Bathurst and Melville Islands, to the Gulf Country of Queensland as far east as the Gilbert River.
Bioregion: Arnhem Coast, Daly Basin, Gulf Fall and Uplands, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Victoria Bonaparte
Habitat: It occurs in monsoonal savannah woodlands on ± level sites or low sites in undulating terrain, on a variety of soil types but always with slightly impeded drainage.
Ecological Attributes
Flowering: Oct, Nov, Jan
Fruiting: Mar, Apr, May, Jul
Other Attributes
Conservation Status (TPWCA): Least Concern
Restricted Range Taxon: N
NT Parks: Limmen National Park
Etymology: Corymbia grandifolia subsp. grandifolia: from the Latin grandis, meaning of great stature, folium meaning leaf, referring to the conspicuously large leaves.
Flora Description Source: Eucalypts of Australia
PDF Factsheet
Specimens