Eucalyptus formanii

Die-Hardy mallee

Priority Four — Rare Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Rosids
Order:Myrtales
Family:Myrtaceae
Genus:Eucalyptus
Species: E. formanii
Binomial name
Eucalyptus formanii

Eucalyptus formanii, commonly known as Die-Hardy mallee, Forman's mallee,[1] or feather gum,[2] is a tree that is native to Western Australia.[3]

Description

The tree that can have a mallee habit forming a lignotuber and typically grows to a height of 3 to 11 metres (10 to 36 ft) and a width of 3 to 8 metres (10 to 26 ft). The leaves are unusual for a Eucalypt with a very narrow shape with a white to pale gray-green colour and with a wispy appearance.[1] Adult leaves disjunct, basally tapered, dull, and concolorous with obscure lateral veins.[4] The bark is rough grey and fibrous on the trunk but flaky and light grey elsewhere.[1] It blooms during the summer months between December and April producing white-cream flowers.[3] The axillary conflorescence is simple with seven to eleven flowered umbellasters on terete peduncles. Buds form later that are fusiform with a calyx calyptrate that sheds early. The fruits are cylindrical or hemispherical with a flat or raides disc.[4]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by the botanist Charles Gardner in 1942 as part of the work Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia.[5] The specimens were collected by F.G Forman and R.S. Matheson from around the Die Hardy Range, near Mount Jackson in July 1940.[4]

Distribution

It is found on ironstone slopes straddling the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia between Yilgarn and Menzies where it grows in sandy soils.[3]

E formanii is part of a low woodland community. These woodlands cover a substantial part of the base of the Mount Manning Nature Reserve]] occurring on flat sandy plains in broad valleys with sandy loam soil types. The low woodlands on plains are made up of 10 m (33 ft) high trees over an understorey of Triodia rigidissima. The composition of the flora is complex with several intermediate strata of tall and low shrubs consisting of Grevillea acuaria, Bossiaea walkeri and various species of Eremophila.[6]

Cultivation

The species can be cultivated from seed and is useful as an ornamental, hedges or windbreaks. It is sometimes used for cut flowers, foliage or fruit. It is drought tolerant and will cope in a range of nutrient poor soils.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Eucalyptus formanii - Forman's Mallee, Die-Hardy mallee". Windmill Outback Nursery. 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Forman's Mallee, Forman's Eucalyptus, Feather Gum Eucalyptus formanii". Dave's Garden. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Eucalyptus formanii". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  4. 1 2 3 "Eucalyptus formanii". Eucalink. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Eucalyptus formanii C.A.Gardner". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "Introduction to National Ecological Communities endemic to Western Australia" (PDF). Department of Environment. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
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