Eucalyptus × conjuncta facts for kids

Eucalyptus × conjuncta is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a tree with rough stringy bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of eleven or more, white flowers and cup-shaped or hemispherical fruit. It is considered to be a stabilised hybrid between E. eugenioides and E. sparsifolia.

Description

Eucalyptus × conjuncta is a tree with rough, stringy bark on the trunk to the smallest branches. Young plants have leaves that are lance-shaped with finely scalloped edges, up to 80 mm (3.1 in) long and 15 mm (0.59 in) wide. Adult leaves are the same bright, glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped, 90–140 mm (3.5–5.5 in) long and 12–22 mm (0.47–0.87 in) wide on a petiole 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in) long. The flower buds are borne in groups of eleven or more on a thin, unbranched peduncle 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long, the individual buds on a thin pedicel 1–4 mm (0.039–0.157 in) long. Mature buds are oval to spindle-shaped, 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) long and 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) wide with a conical operculum about as long and wide as the floral cup. The flowers are white and the fruit is a woody cup-shaped to hemispherical capsule 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) wide with the valves level with the rim or extending beyond it.

Taxonomy and naming

This eucalypt was first formally described in 1990 by Lawrie Johnson and Ken Hill from a specimen Hill collected from near the Murrurundi golf club. The description was published in the journal Telopea. The authors noted that this appears to be a stabilised hybrid between E. eugenioides and E. sparsifolia and the name accepted by the Australian Plant Census is Eucalyptus × conjuncta. The specific epithet (conjuncta) is a Latin word meaning "connected" or "united", in reference to the intermediate features of this species.

Distribution and habitat

Eucalyptus × conjuncta grows in woodland on poor soil usually on sloping sites and is only known from near Murrurundi.