Eucalyptus imlayensis

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids  >  Myrtaceae > Eucalyptus imlayensis

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Mount Imlay Mallee 

Conservation status:  Endangered

• Eucalyptus imlayensis is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "critically endangered" under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995

• The main threats to the species are: 

  • Its small population size in a single location

  • Damage by gall-forming psyllids 

  • Lack of seedling recruitment

• Dieback caused by the fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi and habitat modification caused by fire are potential threats

• The population of mature trees was estimated to be about 80 in 2007

Etymology:   

• 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 imlayensis is from the type location on Mount Imlay

Flowers:        

• The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of three on an unbranched peduncle 2–5 mm long, the buds sessile

• Mature buds are oval, 5–6 mm long and 3–4 mm wide with a conical to slightly beaked operculum

Fruit:                         

• The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, bell-shaped or hemispherical capsule 4–5 mm long and 6–7 mm wide and sessile 

• It has a prominent disc and the valves protrude beyond the rim of the fruit

Leaves:         

• Young plants and coppice regrowth have stems that are more or less square in cross-section with wings on the corners

• Juvenile leaves are mostly arranged in opposite pairs, sessile, elliptic to egg-shaped, 40–75 mm long and 15–30 mm wide

• Adult leaves are quite thick, veiny, lance-shaped or curved, the same glossy green on both sides, 75–150 mm long and 15–30 mm wide on a petiole 10–16 mm long

Stem & branches: 

• It has smooth bark that is shed in ribbons, curling over near the base

• The bark is green when fresh, ageing to orange, brown then grey

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Eucalyptus imlayensis is a mallee that typically grows to a height of 7 m and forms a lignotuber

• It is a small, straggly mallee 

Habitat:   

• The Mount Imlay mallee grows in mossy shrubland dominated by tea tree on a steep quartzite outcrop 

• Other nearby species include the rare Imlay boronia, devil's twine, digger's speedwell, Tasmanian flax-lily, rasp fern, spiny-head mat-rush, scented paperbark, common shaggy pea and blotchy mint-bush

• The ground layer is dominated by mosses

• The soils are poor in nutrient, based from sandstone and conglomerate rocks

Distribution:                  

• It is only known from the Mount Imlay National Park

• Only occurring near the summit of Mount Imlay

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy and naming

  • Eucalyptus imlayensis was first formally described in 1980 by Michael Crisp and Ian Brooker from a specimen collected on Mount Imlay in 1978 

  • The description was published in the journal Telopea

  • It is placed in the subgenus Symphyomyrtus, section Maidenaria, along with E. johnstonii, E. subcrenulata and E. vernicosa

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_imlayensis (2023)