Eucalyptus scoparia

Location & distribution maps

Plant  information

Common name:         Willow Gum

• Also, Wallangarra white gum 

Conservation status: Vulnerable

• This eucalypt is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the NSW Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016

• The main threats to the species are loss of habitat due to land clearing, trampling of young plants and its small population size

Etymology:   

• The name Eucalyptus is derived 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 is a Latin word meaning broom-like, but the allusion is obscure

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 1–4 mm long

• Mature buds are oval or pear-shaped, 4–5 mm long and 3–4 mm wide with a conical to beaked operculum

• Flowering has been recorded in November and the flowers are white

Fruit:                         

• The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, hemispherical or bell-shaped capsule 3–5 mm long and 4–6 mm wide with the valves protruding slightly above the rim

Leaves:         

• Young plants and coppice regrowth have more or less sessile leaves mostly arranged in opposite pairs, glossy green, linear to narrow oblong, 40–80 mm long and 6–18 mm wide

• Adult leaves are the same glossy light green on both sides, linear to lance-shaped or curved, 60–160 mm long and 5–15 mm wide on a petiole 5–17 mm long

Stem & branches: 

• The bark is smooth, powdery, white and grey and is shed in narrow strips

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A tree that typically grows to a height of 15–20 m and forms a lignotuber

Habitat:   

• It grows in clefts on large granite outcrops in open forest and woodland

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to a small area of eastern Australia

• Restricted to a few mountains near the border between NSW and Queensland

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy and naming

  • Eucalyptus scoparia was first formally described in 1905 by Joseph Maiden in Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 

  • The specimen collected by John Boorman

• Use in horticulture

  • The tree is widely planted as an ornamental in southeastern Australia

Sources of information:

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