Eucalyptus mannifera

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

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

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Brittle Gum  

• Also, red spotted gum

Conservation status: ...

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

• Mudie did not give a reason for the specific epithet (mannifera) but did give the species the common name "manna gum tree"

Flowers:                  

• The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven on an unbranched peduncle 5–10 mm long, the individual buds on pedicels 1–5 mm long. 

• Mature buds are oval, 4–6 mm long and 2–4 mm wide with a conical or rounded operculum

• Flowering occurs between January and May and the flowers are white

Fruit:                         

• The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, hemispherical or conical capsule 

• 3–5 mm long and 4–7 mm wide with the valves protruding above the rim of the fruit

Leaves:         

• Young plants and coppice regrowth have leaves that are linear to lance-shaped or curved, 40–100 mm long and 5–18 mm wide

• Adult leaves are lance-shaped to curved, the same shade of green on both sides, 70–185 mm long and 10–30 mm wide, tapering to a petiole 5–22 mm long

Stem & branches: 

• It has smooth, powdery, white or grey bark, sometimes with red patches

• Bark is shed in short ribbons, flakes or plates

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A small to medium-sized tree that typically grows to a height of 20–25 m and forms a lignotuber

Habitat:   

• It usually grows in shallow, rocky soils

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to south-eastern Australia

• It is widespread in south-eastern NSW, south from Rylstone and in eastern Victoria

• The subspecies praecox and gullickii only occur in NSW and have broader leaves than subspecies mannifera

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy 

  • It was first formally described in 1834 by Robert Mudie from a specimen collected in the Blue Mountains,

  • The description was published in the Transactions of the Royal Medico-Botanical Society of London

  • In 1962, Lawrie Johnson reduced Eucalyptus maculosa and Eucalyptus praecox to subspecies of E. mannifera and Eucalyptus praecox

  • Three subspecies names have been accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

    • Eucalyptus mannifera subsp. gullickii (R.T.Baker & H.G.Sm.) L.A.S.Johnson

    • Eucalyptus mannifera Mudie subsp. mannifera

    • Eucalyptus mannifera subsp. praecox (Maiden) L.A.S.Johnson

Sources of information:

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