White-topped box facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White-topped box |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Eucalyptus quadrangulata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Eucalyptus
|
| Species: |
quadrangulata
|
The White-topped Box (scientific name: Eucalyptus quadrangulata) is a special type of tree that only grows in eastern Australia. People also call it the Coast White Box. It's a small to medium-sized tree. You can spot it by its rough, stringy bark on its trunk and branches. Its leaves are shaped like a spear or are slightly curved. It has white flowers that grow in groups of seven, and its fruit looks like a small cone.
What Does the White-topped Box Look Like?
The White-topped Box is a tree that usually grows very tall, reaching about 45 to 50 meters (that's like a 15-story building!). It has a special woody lump at its base called a lignotuber. This helps the tree grow back if it gets damaged.
Its bark is rough and feels like fibers or flakes. It's usually greyish-brown and covers both the trunk and the branches.
When the tree is young, or when new shoots grow from the base (called coppice regrowth), its stems are square. The young leaves grow in pairs directly opposite each other and don't have stalks. They are called sessile leaves because they sit right on the stem. These young leaves are shaped like a spear, lighter on the bottom, and can be 70 to 150 mm long and 13 to 35 mm wide.
The adult leaves are shiny green on both sides. They are shaped like a spear or are slightly curved. They grow to be about 105 to 190 mm long and 10 to 22 mm wide. Each adult leaf has a stalk, called a petiole, which is about 13 to 25 mm long.
The tree's flower buds grow in the leaf axils (the spot where a leaf joins the stem). They grow on a stalk, or peduncle, that is about 9 to 12 mm long. The individual buds usually don't have their own stalks. When they are ready to open, the buds are oval or spindle-shaped, about 4 to 7 mm long and 3 mm wide. They have a conical cap, called an operculum, which falls off when the flower blooms.
The White-topped Box flowers from February to March. Its flowers are white. After flowering, the tree produces woody, cone-shaped fruits. These fruits are called capsules and are about 4 to 5 mm long and 4 to 6 mm wide. The parts that open to release seeds are below the rim of the fruit.
How Was This Tree Named?
The scientific name Eucalyptus quadrangulata was first officially described in 1899. This means it was formally named and written down for the first time by two people: Henry Deane and Joseph Maiden. They published their description in a scientific paper called Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.
Where Does the White-topped Box Grow?
The White-topped Box tree likes to grow on the slopes and edges of the eastern side of the Northern and Central Tablelands in New South Wales, Australia. You can find it from places like Dorrigo and Scone in the north, down to Bundanoon and Milton in the south.
There's also a separate group of these trees, called a disjunct population, near Cunninghams Gap in south-eastern Queensland. This means these trees are found in one area, then there's a big gap, and then they appear again in another area far away.
