Eucalyptus kochii

Oil mallee
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Rosids
Order:Myrtales
Family:Myrtaceae
Genus:Eucalyptus
Species: E. kochii
Binomial name
Eucalyptus kochii
Synonyms

Eucalyptus oleosa var. kochii (Maiden & Blakely) C.A.Gardner

Eucalyptus kochii, commonly known as oil mallee,[1] is a native tree of Western Australia.

Description

The mallee tree typically grows to a height of 3 to 12 metres (10 to 39 ft) and has rough bark that is grey to branchlets and a pink-cream colour above. It blooms between October and February producing white flowers.[1]

The adult leaves have a disjunct arrangement and have a lanceolate to broad lanceolate shape that is basally tapered. The leaves are dull and thick and green or grey-green in color. The simple axillary conflorescence have seven to eleven flowered umbellasters with terete peduncles. The fusiform buds have a calyx calyptrate that sheds early. The hemispherical or ovoid or urceolate fruits have a depressed disc an exserted valves.[2]

Taxonomy

The species was formally described by the botanists Joseph Maiden and William Blakely in 1929 as part of the work A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus.[3] Te only known synonym for the plant is Eucalyptus oleosa var. kochii as described by C.A.Gardner in 1950 in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia.[3]

There are several subspecies:[4]

  • Eucalyptus kochii subsp. amaryssia D.Nicolle
  • Eucalyptus kochii subsp. borealis (C.A.Gardner) D.Nicolle
  • Eucalyptus kochii Maiden & Blakely subsp. kochii
  • Eucalyptus kochii subsp. plenissima (C.A.Gardner) Brooker
  • Eucalyptus kochii subsp. yellowdinensis D.Nicolle

Distribution

The species is found on flats, depressions, rises and along roadsides in the Mid West and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy-loamy-clay soils over laterite or granite.[1]

Cultivation

It is cultivated in plantations for the production of eucalyptus oil. The distilled oil has a very high content of cineole (83-94%).[5][6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Eucalyptus kochii Maiden & Blakely". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  2. ↑ "Eucalyptus kochii". Eucalink. Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Eucalyptus kochii Maiden & Blakely". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  4. ↑ "All Names - Eucalyptus". Euclid. CSIRO. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  5. ↑ Boland, D.J., Brophy, J.J., and A.P.N. House, Eucalyptus Leaf Oils, 1991, ISBN 0-909605-69-6
  6. ↑ "100% Australian Eucalyptus Oil". Kochii Australian Eucalytpus Oil. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  • Byrne, M., "High genetic identities between three oil mallee taxa, Eucalyptus kochii ssp. kochii, ssp. plenissima and E. horistes, based on nuclear RFLP analysis", Heredity, 1999, 82, pp205–211
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