Eucalyptus decurva

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids II
Ordo: Myrtales

Familia: Myrtaceae
Subfamilia: Myrtoideae
Tribus: Eucalypteae
Genus: Eucalyptus
Subgenus: E. subg. Symphyomyrtus
Sectio: E. sect. Bisectae
Series: E. ser. Decurvae
Species: Eucalyptus decurva
Name

Eucalyptus decurva F.Muell.

Eucalyptus decurva, commonly known as the slender mallee,[2] is a species of mallee that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has smooth whitish bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, pendulous flower buds arranged in groups of seven, white flowers and pendulous, more or less spherical fruit.
flower buds
fruit

Description

Eucalyptus decurva is a mallee that typically grows to a height of 1.5–5 m (4 ft 11 in – 16 ft 5 in) and forms a lignotuber. The bark is smooth, white-gray, salmon to yellow-green and sometimes powdery. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull greyish green leaves arranged in opposite pairs, oblong to elliptic or egg-shaped, 35–105 mm (1.4–4.1 in) long and 30–70 mm (1.2–2.8 in) wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, glossy green, lance-shaped to curved, 50–105 mm (2.0–4.1 in) long and 12–25 mm (0.47–0.98 in) wide on a petiole 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long. The flower buds are pendulous and arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven on a peduncle 10–25 mm (0.39–0.98 in) long, the individual buds on a pedicel 4–10 mm (0.16–0.39 in) long. Mature buds are more or less cylindrical to pear-shaped, 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long and 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) wide. Flowering occurs between April to October and the flowers are white to pale pink. The fruit is a pendulous, woody, more or less spherical capsule 7–11 mm (0.28–0.43 in) long and 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) wide on a pedicel 3–12 mm (0.12–0.47 in) long.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy and naming

Eucalyptus decurva was first formally described in 1863 by Ferdinand von Mueller from a specimen collected by George Maxwell near the Porongurups and the description was published in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae.[5][6] The specific epithet (decurva) is a Latin word meaning "down-curved", referring to the flower buds.[3]
Distribution and habitat

Slender mallee grows in sandy and lateritic soils in hilly coastal and near-coastal areas, mostly between the Stirling Range and Esperance but with disjunct populations near Perth.[2][4]
See also

List of Eucalyptus species

References

"Eucalyptus decurva". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
"Eucalyptus decurva". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
"Eucalyptus decurva". Euclid: Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
Chippendale, George M. "Eucalyptus decurva". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
"Eucalyptus decurva". APNI. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
von Mueller, Ferdinand (1863). Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae (Volume 3). Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. pp. 130–131. Retrieved 27 May 2019.