Eucalyptus thozetiana F.Muell. ex R.T.Baker
MYRTACEAE
Synonymy
Common Name: Eucalyptus, Thozet's Box, Napunyah, Yapunyah
Description: Tree to 17 m tall, trunk fluted. Forming a lignotuber. Bark smooth throughout or less commonly with a short stocking of tessellated blackish rough bark. Smooth bark pinkish to creamy white with greyish patches. Small curls or flakes of imperfectly shed bark may be present at times on the otherwise smooth stems. Branchlets lack oil glands in the pith; non-glaucous. Juvenile growth (coppice or field seedlings to 50 cm): stems square in cross-section; juvenile leaves always shortly petiolate, opposite for up to ca 6 nodes then alternate, linear, 3.5-16 cm long, 0.3-0.5 cm wide, green. Adult leaves alternate, petioles 0.2-1.5 cm long; blade linear to narrowly elliptical or lanceolate, occasionally falcate, 5-14 cm long, 0.5-1.5(2) cm wide, base tapering to petiole, margin entire, apex pointed, concolorous, glossy, green, side-veins usually acute, reticulation sparse to moderate and broke, intramarginal vein remote from margin, oil glands irregular in shape, mostly island. Inflorescences terminal compound or sometimes axillary single, or axillary compound; peduncles slender, angular, 0.2-1.5 cm long; buds 7(9 or 11) per umbel, pedicels 0.2-0.5 cm long. Mature buds pyriform to obovoid, slightly angular at the base, 0.4-0.6 cm long, 0.2-0.4 cm wide, scar absent (both opercula shed together at flowering), operculum rounded to conical or beaked, stamens inflexed, outer lacking anthers (staminodes), anthers adnate, basifixed, cuboid to cuneate, dehiscing by short lateral slits, style long and straight, stigma blunt to tapering, locules 3 or 4, the placentae each with 4 vertical ovule rows. Flowers white. Fruit on pedicels 0.2-0.7 cm long, narrowly urn-shaped to barrel-shaped or cylindrical, 0.3-0.5 cm long, (0.2)0.3-0.4(0.5) cm wide, disc descending vertically, valves 3 or 4, enclosed. Seeds brown, 1-2 mm long, flattened-ovoid, dorsal surface shallowly reticulate, hilum ventral.
Diagnostic Characters: Eucalyptus thozetiana is a distinctive small gum-bark tree with narrow glossy green leaves with mostly island oil glands, reticulate venation absent or very sparse, operculum scar absent, outer filaments lacking anthers and fruits thin-walled.
|
|
|
Notes: Eucalyptus thozetiana has a conspicuous glossy green crown, compound inflorescences, slender ± urceolate fruit and, over much of its range smooth bark only developing an extensive rough stocking in the south of its range.
Distribution
- Legend:
Specimens
Observations
Cultivated
Introduced Status: Native to NT
Distribution Notes: A slender tree widespread in Queensland from Jundah and Quilpie in the south-west, east to the Darling Downs and north to near Emerald. The species also occurs disjunctly in the south of the Northern Territory near Arltunga and Coulthard Gap. A record from Mount Sonder in the Macdonnell Ranges is doubtful.
Bioregion: Brigalow Belt North, Brigalow Belt South, Channel Country, MacDonnell Ranges, Mitchell Grass Downs, Mulga Lands
Habitat: It prefers pebbly soils on slight rises.
Ecological Attributes
Flowering: Mar - July, Sept - Nov
Fruiting: Jan, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov
Other Attributes
Conservation Status (TPWCA): Near Threatened
Restricted Range Taxon: Y
NT Parks: Arltunga Historical Reserve, Ruby Gap Nature Park, Trephina Gorge Nature Park
Etymology: Eucalyptus thozetiana: after Anthelme Thozet (1826-78), a French botanist who collected in the Rockhampton area of Queensland.
Flora Description Source: Eucalypts of Australia
Propagation
Seed Collection: Fruits ripen progressively and can be assumed to be mature when valves are formed. Place into cloth or paper bags. (Alice Springs Desert Park)
Seed Propagation General: Cover seeds with 2mm of seed raising media or sterilised sand. Prick-out approximately 2 weeks after sowing, with general potting media. Protect newly germinated and potted seedlings from high heat and wind. Gradually expose to harsher conditions as the plant grows. Seeds sown in Dec/Jan will take 12-16 weeks growing time until suitable for planting. (Alice Springs Desert Park).
PDF Factsheet
Specimens