Eucalyptus dalrympleana

Mountain White Gum

The name Eucalyptus is from the Ancient Greek words eu meaning 'good'and kalypto meaning '(I) cover, conceal, hide', referring to the operculum covering the flower buds
The specific epithet (dalrympleana) honours the forester, Richard Dalrymple Hay (1861–1943)
In 1895 Richard Hay was appointed officer in charge of the first group of people organised to monitor forest conservation within the Forests Department of NSW

Flowers:

The flower buds are arranged in groups of three or seven in leaf axils
On a peduncle 3–12 mm long, the individual buds sessile or on a pedicel up to 3 mm long
Mature buds are oval, green to yellow, 6–10 mm long and 3–6 mm wide with a conical to rounded operculum
Flowering mainly occurs between March and June and the flowers are white

Fruit:

The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, bell-shaped or hemispherical capsule 3–8 mm long and 5–9 mm wide

Leaves:

Young plants and coppice regrowth have leaves arranged in opposite pairs and are egg-shaped or heart-shaped to more or less round, 25–70 mm long and wide
Adult leaves are arranged alternately, lance-shaped to curved, the same colour on both sides
80–220 mm long and 10–40 mm wide on a petiole 12–35 mm long

Stem & branches:

It has smooth white to yellowish bark, sometimes with a short stocking of rough bark

Roots:

Habit:

Habitat:

Distribution:

Endemic to southeastern Australia
In far south-eastern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania
- Subspecies heptantha is only found in far south-eastern Queensland and on the northern tablelands of NSW
- Subspecies dalrympleana occurs south from the central and southern tablelands of NSW
- The species is rare in South Australia where it only occurs in the Mount Lofty Ranges

Additional notes:

Taxonomy and naming
- Eucalyptus dalrympleana was first formally described in 1920 by Joseph Maiden from a specimen collected by Wilfred de Beuzeville near Yarrangobilly
- The description was published in Maiden's book, The Forest Flora of NSW
- In 1962, Lawrie Johnson described two subspecies and the names have been accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
  - Eucalyptus dalrympleana Maiden subsp. dalrympleana has flower buds arranged in groups of three
  - Eucalyptus dalrympleana subsp. heptantha L.A.S.Johnson has flower buds and flowers in groups of seven
Use in horticulture
- In cultivation in the UK, E. dalrympleana is fully hardy down to −15 °C but prefers some shelter
- It grows best in full sun
- It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit

Sources of information:

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