Eucalyptus argutifolia
Encyclopedia
Eucalyptus argutifolia, commonly known as Wabling Hill Mallee, is a species of Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

which is endemic to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

Description

Eucalyptus argutifolia is a mallee
Mallee (habit)
Mallee is the growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than ten metres...

 which grows up to 4 metres in height with smooth grey or pale copper-coloured bark. It has smooth, petiolate, juvenile leaves which average about 4.5 cm long and 4 cm wide, while the glossy green adult leaves are up to 12 cm long and 3 cm wide, although intermediate-sized leaves are often seen.

Small, white flowers appear in the autumn (March to April in areas where they occur naturally) followed by fruits that are less than 1 cm in diameter.

Distribution

The species occurs naturally on Wabling Hill and Parrot Ridge to the north of Yanchep
Yanchep, Western Australia
Yanchep is an outer coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 56 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. It was built by entrepreneur Alan Bond in the 1970s for the 1977 America's Cup...

 and to the south of Seabird on shallow soils of limestone ridges, on slopes and in gullies.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Grayling and Brooker
Ian Brooker
Murray Ian Hill Brooker AM , better known as Ian Brooker, is an Australian botanist. He is widely recognised as the leading authority on the genus Eucalyptus....

 in 1992 from the type specimen which was collected at Parrot Ridge in 1987.

It is placed in the Eucalyptus sub-genus Symphyomyrtus, section Dumaria, series Rufispermae.
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