Eucalyptus rossii
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Eucalyptus rossii, commonly known as inland scribbly gum or white gum,[1] is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It has smooth bark with insect scribbles, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, white flowers and hemispherical or shortened spherical fruit.
Description
Eucalyptus rossii is a tree that typically grows to a height of around Template:Cvt and forms a lignotuber. It normally has a solitary straight trunk and an open, moderately dense crown that reaches a width of about Template:Cvt. The smooth yellowish bark sheds in patches throughout the year and usually has insect scribbles. Young plants and coppice regrowth have lance-shaped, narrow lance-shaped or curved leaves that are Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of green on both sides, narrow lance-shaped to lance-shaped, Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt wide, tapering to a petiole Template:Cvt long.[1][2][3][4]
The flower buds are mostly arranged in leaf axils in clusters of between five and fifteen on an unbranched peduncle Template:Cvt long, the individual buds on pedicels Template:Cvt long. Mature buds are oval to club-shaped, Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt wide with a rounded operculum. Flowering occurs between September and February and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped, hemispherical or shortened spherical capsule Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt wide with the valves near rim level.[1][2][3][4]
Taxonomy
Eucalyptus rossii was first formally described in 1902 by the botanist Richard Thomas Baker and chemist Henry George Smith in A Research on the Eucalypts especially in regard to their Essential Oils. The specific epithet (rossii) honours William John Clunies-Ross (1850-1914), for his attention to the flora of the Bathurst region.[5][6]
Distribution and habitat
Inland scribbly gum has a scattered distribution over the New South Wales tablelands, western slopes and the central coast,[2] from Tenterfield in the north to Bombala in the south.[1] The trees grow well in sandy and stony well-drained soils, usually on slopes. They are found in areas with moderate temperatures and rainfall of Template:Cvt per annum. They are part of open dry sclerophyll woodland communities and associated species include E. haemastoma and E. racemosa.[2]
Ecology
These trees usually have scribble marks on the bark formed by the burrowing larvae of a small moth, Ogmograptis scribula. The insect lays eggs within layers of bark and when the larvae hatch they burrow into the bark.[2]
Use in horticulture
E. rossii is available commercially in seed form or as seedlings. It is useful as a shade tree which grows well in full sun with well drained soils that can cope in poor shallow, stony soils. It is both drought and frost tolerant with a flower display through summer that will attract birds.[7]
See also
References
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