Eucalyptus petraea
{{Short description|Species of eucalyptus}}
{{speciesbox
|name = Granite rock box
|image = Eucalyptus petraea.jpg
|image_caption = Eucalyptus petraea flowers
|genus = Eucalyptus
|species = petraea
|status_system =
|status =
|authority = D.J.Carr & S.G.M.Carr{{cite web |title=Eucalyptus petraea |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/105003|website=Australian Plant Census |access-date=30 November 2019}}
}}
Eucalyptus petraea, commonly known as granite rock box,{{FloraBase|name=Eucalyptus petraea|id=5742}} is a species of mallee or a small tree that is endemic to Western Australia. It has thin, ribbony or flaky to fibrous bark on the lower trunk, smooth greyish above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and conical fruit.
Description
Eucalyptus petraea is a mallee or small tree that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|5|m}} and forms a lignotuber. It has thin, ribbony to flaky or fibrous bark on the lowest {{cvt|1-2|m|}} of the trunk, smooth greyish bark above. Young plants and coppice regrowth have lance-shaped leaves that are {{cvt|65-90|mm}} long and {{cvt|20-35|mm}} wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped, {{cvt|80-145|mm}} long and {{cvt|15-35|mm}} wide, tapering to a petiole {{cvt|15-35|mm}} long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets in groups of seven on a branched peduncle {{cvt|7-22|mm}} long, the individual buds on pedicels {{cvt|3-7|mm}} long. Mature buds are oval, {{cvt|6-9|mm}} long and {{cvt|4-7|mm}} wide with a blunt, conical operculum. Flowering occurs from January to February and from August to September and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody, conical capsule {{cvt|4-10|mm}} long and {{cvt|5-10|mm}} wide with the valves below rim level.{{cite web |title=Eucalyptus petraea |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/euclid/text/entities/eucalyptus_petraea.htm |publisher=Euclid: Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research |access-date=30 May 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Chippendale |first1=George M. |title=Eucalyptus petraea |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Eucalyptus%20petraea |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra.}}{{cite journal |last1=Carr |first1=Denis John |last2=Carr |first2=Stella G.M. |title=Eucalyptus petraea sp. nov. and E. lucasii (Myrtaceae): two Western Australian boxes |journal=Nuytsia |date=1983 |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=279–284 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/223573#page/21/mode/1up |access-date=30 November 2019}}
Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus petraea was first formally described in 1983 by Denis and Stella Carr in the journal Nuytsia from material they collected near Gnarlbine Rock in 1980.{{cite web|title=Eucalyptus petraea|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/455803|publisher=APNI|access-date=30 November 2019}} The specific epithet (petraea) is from the Latin word petraueus meaning "growing among rocks".{{cite book |author=Francis Aubie Sharr |author-link=Francis Aubie Sharr |title=Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, Western Australia |isbn=9780958034180 |page=275}}
Distribution and habitat
Granite rock box grows in isolated locations near granite boulders between Coorow, Merredin and Karonie, east of Kalgoorlie.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15354278}}
Category:Eucalypts of Western Australia
Category:Myrtales of Australia