Eucalyptus crispata

Yandanooka mallee

Eucalyptus | Symphyomyrtus | Bisectae | Glandulosae | Levispermae | Cubiformes

Eucalyptus crispata Brooker & Hopper, Nuytsia 8:100 (1991).

T: near Yandanooka, Western Australia, 13 Mar. 1986, M.I.H.Brooker 9207 & S.D.Hopper; holo: PERTH; iso: CANB, MEL, NSW.

Mallee to 8 m tall. Lignotuber present.
Bark rough on lower trunk for up to 1 m, with imperfectly shed grey curls, smooth above, grey over pinkish.
Branchlets with oil glands in pith.
Juvenile growth (coppice or field seedlings to 50 cm): not seen.
Adult leaves alternate, petioles 0.8–2.5 cm long; blade lanceolate, 5.5–12.5 cm long, 1–2 cm wide, base tapering to petiole, margin entire, apex pointed, concolorous, dull, green maturing glossy, side-veins at an acute or wider angle to midrib, reticulation moderate to dense, intramarginal vein remote from margin, oil glands mostly intersectional.
Inflorescence axillary unbranched, peduncles widening apically, 0.7–1.6 cm long, buds ?9 to 13 per umbel, pedicels 0.2–0.4 cm long. Mature buds fusiform (0.9–1.2 cm long, 0.3–0.4 cm wide), scar present, operculum narrowly conical, up to twice the length of hypanthium and equal to it in width at the join, few outer stamens erect, most stamens deflexed to some extent, anthers oblong, versatile, dorsifixed, dehiscing by longitudinal slits, style long and straight, stigma blunt to tapered, locules 3 or 4, the placentae each with 4 vertical rows of ovules. Flowers whitish to very pale yellow.
Fruit pedicellate (pedicels 0.1–0.4 cm long), barrel-shaped to cylindrical, 0.5–0.8 cm long, 0.4–0.6 cm wide, disc descending vertically, valves 3 or 4, at rim level.
Seeds pale brown to straw-coloured, 1–1.5 mm long, sub-spherical to ovoid, surface smooth, hilum ventral/terminal.

Cultivated seedlings (measured at ca node 10): cotyledons Y-shaped (bisected); stems square in cross-section, slightly glaucous to non-glaucous; leaves always petiolate, opposite for 3 or 4 nodes then alternate, ovate to deltoid, 6–8.5 cm long, 3.5–5.5 cm wide, base rounded to truncate or entire, greyish green to green or slightly glaucous.

Flowering time unknown.

A mallee endemic to Western Australia, of very restricted distribution in the Yandanooka Nature Reserve, south of Mingenew, north of Perth. The bark is loosely rough, dark grey on the lower part of the stems. The adult leaves are dull or glossy, green.

Eucalyptus crispata belongs to Eucalyptus subgenus Symphyomyrtus section Bisectae subsection Glandulosae because the cotyledons are bisected, buds have an operculum scar and the branchlets have oil glands in the pith. Within this subsection, E. crispata with its short, fusiform buds with some stamens erect and others variably deflexed and peduncle that widens apically, seems to fit in series Levispermae; however, its seeds are more ovoid than is usual for this group, the operculum quite blunt and seedling leaves ovate to deltoid. Therefore it is somewhat distanced from other species in this series and may reflect possible hybrid origin, perhaps E. arachnaea X E. accedens. Seedlings however do not show any segregation.  

It is easy to recognise because of its tall mallee habit, "crisped" bark and habitat in the floor of gullies down from lateritic breakaways. Both E. arachnaea subsp. arachnaea and E. accedens occur in the vicinity.

Eucalyptus crispata is listed as "Vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Further information may be found at this web address:
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl

Eucalyptus crispata: Latin crispatus, curled, referring to the loose rough bark.