Eucalyptus melanoxylon

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

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

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:         Black Morrell

Conservation status: Not threatened

• Classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife

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 (melanoxylon) means "black wood", alluding to the very dark colour of the timber

Flowers:                  

• Flower buds are arranged in groups of between seven and fifteen on an unbranched peduncle 8–15 mm long

• The individual buds on pedicels 3–5 mm long

• Mature buds are oval, 5–8 mm long and 3–5 mm wide with a conical to rounded operculum

• Flowering occurs between November and March 

• The flowers are white

Fruit:                         

• A woody conical to cup-shaped capsule 

• 4–6 mm long and 5–6 mm wide 

• The valves protrude

Leaves:         

• Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull greenish leaves that are lance-shaped

  • 40–75 mm long and 12–30 mm wide

• Adult leaves are the same glossy green on both surfaces

  • They are linear to narrow lance-shaped

  • 72–110 mm long and 7–12 mm wide on a petiole 7–15 mm long

Stem & branches: 

• It has hard, thick, fissured bark on the trunk and larger branches or sometimes only on the lower half

• White to greyish bark above

Roots:         

Habit:        

•  Small to medium-sized tree that typically grows to a height of 4–24 m

• Sometimes a robust mallee, and forms a lignotuber

Habitat:   

• It is found in depressions and on flats where it grows in sand-clay-loamy soils

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to southern Western Australia

• From Westonia, Bullabulling and Lake King in the eastern wheatbelt to Balladonia in the eastern goldfields

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • Eucalyptus melanoxylon was first formally described in 1923 by Joseph Maiden in his book, A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus 

  • Specimens were collected near Westonia 

• Uses

  • The heartwood of this species is a dark brown colour with visible growth rings

  • The wood is quite dense, with an air-dry density of 1,130 kg/m3 and a green density of 1,165 kg/m3 

  • It is quite workable and is suitable for woodturning, sanding and finishing

Sources of information:

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