Eucalyptus ravida facts for kids

Eucalyptus ravida is a special kind of small tree called a mallet. It grows only in Western Australia. This tree has smooth, shiny bark. Its leaves are shaped like a spear. It has white flowers that grow in groups of seven. After flowering, it produces fruit shaped like a cone or half-sphere.

What the Ravida Eucalyptus Looks Like

The Eucalyptus ravida is a type of tree called a mallet. It has stems with grooves, like a fluted column. This tree usually grows to be about 5 to 20 meters (16 to 66 feet) tall. Unlike some other eucalypts, it does not form a lignotuber. A lignotuber is a woody swelling at the base of the stem that helps the plant regrow after a fire.

The bark of this tree is smooth and shiny. It can be greyish to brownish in color. Young plants and new shoots (called coppice regrowth) have branches that look glaucous. This means they have a dull, bluish-green or greyish-white coating, like a powdery layer.

The leaves on young plants are also bluish-green or glaucous. They are about 55 to 90 millimeters (2.2 to 3.5 inches) long and 15 to 25 millimeters (0.6 to 1 inch) wide. These leaves have a petiole, which is like a small stalk connecting the leaf to the stem.

Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides. They are glaucous at first, then become glossy. These leaves are about 58 to 130 millimeters (2.3 to 5.1 inches) long and 8 to 23 millimeters (0.3 to 0.9 inches) wide. Their petioles are about 10 to 25 millimeters (0.4 to 1 inch) long.

The flower buds grow in the axils of the leaves. An axil is the angle between a leaf and the stem. The buds are arranged in groups of seven. They grow on a flat, unbranched stalk called a peduncle, which is 5 to 14 millimeters (0.2 to 0.6 inches) long. Each individual bud is either sessile (meaning it has no stalk) or has a very short stalk called a pedicel, up to 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) long.

Mature buds are oval-shaped. They are about 8 to 13 millimeters (0.3 to 0.5 inches) long and 5 to 6 millimeters (0.2 to 0.24 inches) wide. They have a cone-shaped cap called an operculum.

This tree flowers from September to December. Its flowers are a creamy white color. After the flowers, the tree produces fruit. The fruit is a woody capsule (a dry fruit that splits open). It is shaped like a cone or half-sphere. The fruit is about 4 to 7 millimeters (0.16 to 0.28 inches) long and 6 to 10 millimeters (0.24 to 0.39 inches) wide. The part that holds the seeds (the valve) sticks out strongly.

How the Ravida Eucalyptus Got its Name

The Eucalyptus ravida was first officially described in 1991. Two botanists, Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson and Ken Hill, wrote about it in a science journal called Telopea.

The second part of its scientific name, ravida, comes from the Latin word ravidus. This word means "greyish." It refers to the greyish look of the tree, which is caused by its glaucous (powdery, bluish-grey) twigs.

Eucalyptus ravida is one of six special types of "gimlet" trees. These gimlet trees all have their flower buds growing in groups of seven. The other true gimlet species are E. campaspe, E. effusa, E. salubris, E. terebra, and E. tortilis.

It's easy to tell E. salubris apart from E. ravida and E. campaspe. That's because E. salubris does not have glaucous branchlets, while E. ravida and E. campaspe have very noticeable glaucous branches.

Where the Ravida Eucalyptus Grows

This mallet tree is found in Western Australia. It grows on rolling plains and in shallow dips in the land. You can find it in areas between places like Callion, Norseman, and Zanthus. These areas are part of different biogeographic regions in Western Australia. These regions include the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Mallee, and Murchison areas.

Looking After the Tree

The government of Western Australia, specifically the Department of Parks and Wildlife, has looked at the Eucalyptus ravida. They have classified this eucalypt as "not threatened." This means that, for now, there are plenty of these trees, and they are not in danger of disappearing.