Eucalyptus caesia
Caesia
Caesia
Eucalyptus caesia 'Silver Princess'
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids > Myrtaceae > Eucalyptus caesia
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Overview:
Eucalyptus caesia, commonly known as caesia or gungurru, is a species of mallee that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia
It has smooth reddish brown bark at first, later shedding in curling flakes, lance-shaped, sometimes curved adult leaves, club-shaped flower buds covered with a waxy, bluish white bloom, pink stamens with yellow anthers and urn-shaped fruit
Common name: Caesia
Commonly known as caesia or gungurru
Conservation status: ...
Etymology:
The name Eucalyptus is derived from the Ancient Greek words eu meaning 'good'and kalypto meaning ' cover, conceal, hide', referring to the operculum covering the flower buds
The specific epithet (caesia) is a Latin word meaning "bluish grey" referring to the waxy cover of the small branches, flower buds and fruit
Flowers:
The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of three on an unbranched peduncle 15–35 mm long, the individual flowers on pedicels 15–22 mm long
Mature flower buds are oval or pear-shaped, covered with a whitish waxy bloom, 17–30 mm long and 10–13 mm wide with a conical operculum
Flowering mainly occurs between May and September and the flowers have pink stamens with yellow anthers on the tip
Fruit:
The fruit is a woody bell-shaped or urn-shaped capsule 15–25 mm long and 18–23 mm wide on a peduncle 13–33 mm long
Leaves:
Young plants and coppice regrowth have thick, glossy green, heart-shaped leaves 25–80 mm long and 25–60 mm wide that have a petiole
Adult leaves are lance-shaped to curved, mostly 80–110 mm long and 15–25 mm
Stem & branches:
The bark is smooth reddish brown at first and is shed in curling longitudinal flakes known as "minnirichi"
Young branches are shiny red, covered with a waxy, bluish white bloom
Roots:
Habit:
A mallee that typically grows to a height of 2 to 14 m and forms a lignotuber
The species is known to be drought tolerant
Habitat:
Crevices at the base of granite outcrops
Distribution:
In scattered inland areas of the south-west, including in the Avon Wheatbelt and Mallee biogeographic regions
Additional notes:
Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus caesia was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham from a collection made by James Drummond in 1847 and the description was published in Flora Australiensis
In 1982, Ian Brooker and Stephen Hopper described two subspecies, but the Australian Plant Census accepts these as synonyms:
Eucalyptus caesia subsp. caesia grows to a height of 6 to 9 m with smaller leaves, buds and fruit than the other subspecies
Eucalyptus caesia subsp. magna grows to a height of 15 m with pendulous branches and larger leaves, buds and fruit
Ecology
Despite persisting as very small populations, this species does not seem to exhibit effects of inbreeding depression
Associated species include Eucalyptus crucis, Eucalyptus loxophleba, Allocasuarina huegeliana and Acacia lasiocalyx
Use in horticulture
A form known as 'Silver Princess' is described as a "graceful weeping tree" that has an irregular and weeping form
Propagation is from seed, which germinates readily
Sources of information: