Eucalyptus macrocarpa
Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox
Eucalyptus macrocarpa, commonly known as mottlecah,[1] is a species of mallee that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, usually sessile, heart-shaped adult leaves arranged in opposite pairs, large red flowers and broad conical fruit.
Description
Eucalyptus macrocarpa is a mallee that typically grows to a height of Template:Cvt, has a sprawling or spreading habit, and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth, shiny, brownish over salmon-pink bark. Its crown is composed of juvenile leaves that are sessile, arranged in opposite pairs, heart-shaped with the bases wrapped around the stem, glaucous, Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt wide. The flower buds are glaucous and are arranged singly in leaf axils on a peduncle Template:Cvt long and a pedicel up to Template:Cvt long. Mature buds are oval, Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt wide with a beaked operculum. Flowering occurs from August to January or April or June and the flowers are red, or rarely, creamy white. The fruit is a sessile, woody, broadly conical capsule Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt wide with the valves protruding above the rim of the fruit.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus macrocarpa was first formally described in 1842 by William Jackson Hooker from a specimen collected by James Drummond from the "guangan". The description was published in Hooker's book, Icones Plantarum.[4][5] In Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Hooker noted "[t]he colour of the flowers is due to the stamens alone; for petals (as in the genus) there are none, and the calyx falls off like the lid of a box". He also noted that "the bright red flowers nestled among the leaves, for a very striking object", and that indigenous people called it "morral".[6]
The specific epithet is derived from the ancient Greek words makros (μακρός) meaning "long" and karpos (καρπός) meaning "fruit".[7] Noongar peoples know the tree as mottlecar.[8][9]
In 1993, Ian Brooker and Stephen Hopper described two subspecies and the names have been accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
- Eucalyptus macrocarpa subsp. elachantha Brooker & Hopper [10] has smaller leaves, buds and fruit than subspecies macrocarpa;[11][12]
- Eucalyptus macrocarpa Hook. subsp. macrocarpa.[13] The name elachantha is derived from the ancient Greek words elachys meaning "small" and anthos meaning "flower".[14]Template:Rp[15]
Distribution and habitat
Mottlecah grows in sand in undulating heath between Eneabba, Cataby and Kulin. Subspecies elachantha has a more restricted distribution south-east of Geraldton.[3][16]
Conservation status
Subspecies macrocarpa is classified as "not threatened",[1] but subspecies elachantha is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife,[1] meaning that is rare or near threatened.[12][17]
Use in horticulture
Eucalyptus macrocarpa is easily grown from seed, but requires good drainage and a dry, frost-free climate. It was raised from seed in 1842 at Kew Gardens and flowered in 1847.[6][16]
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E.macrocarpa x pyrformis
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E. macrocarpa, as figured by Walter Hood Fitch in 1847.
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References
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- ↑ Backer, C.A. (1936). Verklarend woordenboek der wetenschappelijke namen van de in Nederland en Nederlandsch-Indië in het wild groeiende en in tuinen en parken gekweekte varens en hoogere planten (Edition Nicoline van der Sijs).
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