Eucalyptus brownii
{{Short description|Species of eucalyptus}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Brown's box
|image = Eucalyptus brownii.jpg
|genus = Eucalyptus
|species = brownii
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
|authority = Maiden & Cambage{{cite web|title=Eucalyptus brownii|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/73665|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=28 March 2019}}
|synonyms = Eucalyptus bicolor var parviflora F.Muell. ex Benth.
}}
File:Eucalyptus brownii buds.jpg
File:Eucalyptus brownii foliage.jpg
Eucalyptus brownii, commonly known as the Brown's box or Reid River box,{{cite web |title=Eucalyptus brownii Brown's box, Reid River box|url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/euclid/text/entities/eucalyptus_brownii.htm?zoom_highlight=Eucalyptus+brownii|publisher=Euclid: Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research |access-date=28 March 2019}} is a species endemic to Queensland. It is a small to medium-sized tree with hard, tough, fissured bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of eleven to fifteen, white flowers and usually cup-shaped fruit.
Description
Eucalyptus brownii is a species of tree that typically grows to a height of {{convert|18|m|ft|0}} and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, hard, fibrous-flaky bark with whitish patches, pale and patchy grey or grey-brown in colour and is persistent on the trunk and on the larger branches. Leaves on young plants and on coppice regrowth are arranged alternately, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped, {{convert|40-90|mm|in|1}} long, {{convert|14-32|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} wide and have a petiole. The adult leaves are the same glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped, {{convert|60-170|mm|in|1}} long, {{convert|10-36|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} wide on a petiole {{convert|15-30|mm|in|1}} long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of eleven, thirteen or fifteen on a peduncle {{convert|3-8|mm|in|2}} long, the individual flowers on a pedicel {{convert|1-4|mm|in|2}} long. Mature buds are oval, {{convert|2-4|mm|in|2}} long, {{convert|2-3|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} wide with a rounded operculum. Flowering mainly occurs from August to October and the flowers are a creamy-white colour. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped or sometimes bell-shaped capsule {{convert|2-3|mm|in|2}} long and wide on a pedicel {{convert|1-3|mm|in|2}} long, the valves eclosed or level with the rim.{{cite web |last1=Chippendale |first1=George M. |title=Eucalyptus brownii |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Eucalyptus%20brownii |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra |access-date=28 March 2019}}
Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus brownii was first formally described by Joseph Maiden and Richard Hind Cambage from specimens collected by Nicholas Daley along the Reid River near Townsville in 1912.{{cite web|title=Eucalyptus brownii|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/455036|publisher=APNI|access-date=27 March 2019}}{{cite journal |last1=Maiden |first1=Joseph H. |last2=Cambage |first2=Richard H. |title=On a new species of Eucalyptus from northern Queensland |journal=Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales |date=1914 |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=215–217 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/130132#page/249/mode/1up |access-date=28 March 2019}}{{cite web |title=Daley, Nicholas (1882-1963 ) |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/daley-nicholas.html |publisher=Australian National Herbarium |access-date=28 March 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/euctax.pl?/PlantNet/Euc=&name=Eucalyptus+brownii|title=Eucalyptus brownii|access-date=22 July 2017|work=Eucalink|publisher=Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney}} The specific epithet (brownii) honours Robert Brown.
Distribution and habitat
Brown's box grows on plains and gentle slopes in central eastern Queensland. It is found between the Connors River south of Sarina, Barcaldine, Hughenden, Charters Towers and Townsville.{{cite web|url=https://wetlandinfo.ehp.qld.gov.au/wetlands/ecology/components/species/?eucalyptus-brownii|title=Reid River box – Eucalyptus brownii|access-date=22 July 2017|work=Wetlandinfo|publisher=Queensland Government}} It is often found as part of open woodland communities along with Eucalyptus persistens with a shrub layer of Eremophila mitchellii, Psydrax oleifolia, Flindersia maculosa and Lysiphyllum species on clay soils in Cainozoic plains or in association with Eucalyptus cambageana and E. crebra in woodlands on low metamorphic rises.{{cite web|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_reg/vmr2012303/sch2.html|title=Vegetation management regulation 2012- Schedule 2|access-date=22 July 2017|publisher=Queensland Consolidated Regulations}}
References
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Category:Myrtales of Australia