Eucalyptus aridimontana facts for kids

Eucalyptus aridimontana is a mallee that is endemic to a small area in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers and barrel-shaped fruit.

Description

Eucalyptus aridimontana is a mallee that grows to a height of 4–6 metres (13–20 ft) and forms a lignotuber. The bark is grey and cream-coloured and smooth over the length of the tree. The leaves on young plants and on coppice regrowth are dull green to bluish, lance-shaped and up to 55 mm (2 in) long and 22 mm (0.9 in) wide. The adult leaves are lance-shaped, mostly 70–145 mm (3–6 in) long and 10–26 mm (0.4–1 in) wide. The flower buds are borne in groups of seven or nine on the ends of the branches and in leaf axils on a thickened peduncle 6–16 mm (0.2–0.6 in) long, the individual flowers on a pedicel 1–6 mm (0.0–0.2 in) long. The mature buds are club-shaped, 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide with a conical operculum. The flowers are white and the fruit are barrel-shaped, 4.5–9 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long and 3.5–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide.

Taxonomy and naming

Eucalyptus aridimontana was first formally described in 2012 by Dean Nicolle and Malcolm E. French from a specimen collected near Tom Price. The description was published in the journal Nuytsia. The specific epithet (aridimontana) is said to be derived from the Latin words aridus meaning "dry" and montana meaning "mountain", referring to the habitat of this species. According to A Latin Dictionary of Lewis and Short, montana is the Latin word for "mountainous regions".

Distribution and habitat

This mallee grows in skeletal soils on the slopes, ridges and summits of high mountains in the Hamersley Range of the Gascoyne and Pilbara biogeographic regions.

Conservation

Eucalyptus aridimontana is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.