Eucalyptus retusa

Eucalyptus retusa, commonly known as the Point Hood yate, is a species of mallee that is endemic to a restricted area in Western Australia. It has smooth, greyish bark, glossy green, egg-shaped to spatula-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in clusters of between thirteen and nineteen, yellowish green flowers and fruit with their bases fused together.

Point Hood yate

Priority One — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Eucalyptus
Species:
E. retusa
Binomial name
Eucalyptus retusa
D.Nicolle, French & McQuoid[1]

Description

Eucalyptus retusa is a mallee that typically grows to a height of 0.5–4 m (1 ft 8 in–13 ft 1 in) and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth, pale grey bark that is cream-coloured when new. Young plants have egg-shaped to more or less round leaves that are dull green, paler on the lower surface, up to 50 mm (2.0 in) long and 40 mm (1.6 in) wide. Adult leaves are glossy green, egg-shaped to spatula-shaped, 30–55 mm (1.2–2.2 in) long and 14–20 mm (0.55–0.79 in) wide, tapering to the petiole. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in clusters of between thirteen and nineteen, the buds joined at the base. The operculum is 40–42 mm (1.6–1.7 in) long and 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) wide at the base. The flowers are yellowish green and the fruit are conical, 7–10.5 mm (0.28–0.41 in) wide and fused at the base, the fused fruit 30 mm (1.2 in) in diameter.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Eucalyptus retusa was first formally described in 2008 by Dean Nicolle, Malcolm French and Nathan McQuoid from a specimen collected near Bremer Bay in 2004. The description was published in the journal Nuytsia.[2][4] The specific epithet (retusa) is from the Latin retusus meaning blunted, rounded, notched at the tip.[2]

Distribution and habitat

The Point Hood yate is only known from a single population at the type location near Bremer Bay where it grows in low scrubland on a rocky headland.[2][5]

Conservation status

This eucalypt is classified as "Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife,[5] meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Eucalyptus retusa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  2. Nicolle, Dean; French, Malcolm E.; Mcquoid, Nathan (2008). "A revision of Eucalyptus ser. Cornutae subser. Conjunctae (Myrtaceae) from the south coast of Western Australia, including the description of four new taxa and comments on the hybrid origin of E. bennettiae" (PDF). Nuytsia. 18: 217–220. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. "Eucalyptus retusa". Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  4. "Eucalyptus retusa". APNI. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  5. "Eucalyptus retusa". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  6. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
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