Eucalyptus elata
{{Short description|Species of eucalyptus}}
{{speciesbox
|name = River peppermint
|image = Eucalyptus elata habit.jpg
|image_caption = Eucalyptus elata, lining Northbourne Avenue, Canberra
|status =
|status_system =
|genus = Eucalyptus
|species = elata
|authority = Dehnh.{{cite web|title=Eucalyptus elata|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/106359|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=28 June 2019}}
|range_map = E. elata.JPG
|range_map_caption = E. elata, field distribution
|synonyms =
- Eucalyptus andreana var. stenophylla (William Blakely) Cameron
- Eucalyptus lindleyana var. stenophylla Blakely
}}
Eucalyptus elata, commonly known as the river peppermint or river white gum,{{cite web |title=Eucalyptus elata |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/euclid/text/entities/eucalyptus_elata.htm |publisher=Euclid: Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research |access-date=4 June 2020}} is a species of medium to tall tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, compacted bark on the lower trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, green to yellow flower buds arranged in groups of eleven to thirty or more, white flowers and hemispherical or shortened spherical fruit.File:Eucalyptus elata buds.jpgFile:Eucalyptus elata fruit.jpg
Description
Eucalyptus elata is a tree that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|40|m}}, rarely a mallee to {{cvt|6|m}}, and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, compact, dark grey bark, with narrow longitudinal fissures on the lower trunk. The bark on the upper trunk and branches is smooth, shedding in long ribbons often remaining in the crown, leaving a grey, cream-coloured or whitish surface. Young plants and coppice regrowth have leaves arranged in opposite pairs, lance-shaped to curved, {{cvt|33-105|mm}} long and {{cvt|6-16|mm}} wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, {{cvt|60-220|mm}} long and {{cvt|6-20|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|6-20|mm}} long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of between eleven and thirty or more in leaf axils on an unbranched peduncle {{cvt|4-12|mm}} long, the individual buds on a pedicel {{cvt|3-5|mm}} long. Mature buds are club-shaped, {{cvt|2-4|mm}} long and {{cvt|1.5-3|mm}} wide with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering occurs from August to December and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, hemispherical or shortened spherical capsule {{cvt|3-5|mm}} long and {{cvt|3-6|mm}} wide with the valves enclosed below the rim.{{cite web |last1=Chippendale |first1=George M. |title=Eucalyptus elata |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Eucalyptus%20elata |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra |access-date=28 June 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Ken |title=Eucalyptus elata |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Eucalyptus~elata |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=28 June 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Brooker |first1=M. Ian H. |last2=Slee |first2=Andrew V. |title=Eucalyptus elata |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/9bb63e24-56c2-4691-8486-0efe7a35e15e |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=28 June 2019}}
Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus elata was first described in 1829 by Friedrich Dehnhardt in his book, Catalogus Plantarum Horti Camaldulensis.{{cite web|title=Eucalyptus elata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/455880 |publisher=APNI|access-date=28 June 2019}}{{cite book |last1=Dehnhardt |first1=Freidrich |title=Catalogus plantarum Horti Camaldulensis |date=1829 |page=26 |url=https://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/viewer/16004/?offset=&height_top=50#page=26&viewer=picture&o=bookmark&n=0&q= |access-date=28 June 2019}} The specific epithet (elata) is a Latin word meaning "exalted", "high" or "lofty".{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|page=297}}
Distribution and habitat
River peppermint usually grows along watercourse but sometimes also in undulating country, on rocky ridges or on scree slopes in forest. It grows near the coast and nearby tablelands south from Putty in New South Wales to eastern Victoria.
Uses
=Use in horticulture=
E. elata is widely cultivated as a street and ornamental tree for its beautiful upper smooth bark, rich green foliage and profusion of flowers that appear in spherical masses.Brooker, M.I.H. & Kleinig, D.A. Field Guide to Eucalyptus, Bloomings, Melbourne 2001
=Essential oils=
The leaves of E. elata have been distilled commercially for a piperitone based essential oil.Boland, D.J., Brophy, J.J., and A.P.N. House, Eucalyptus Leaf Oils, 1991, {{ISBN|0-909605-69-6}}