Botanical art
Prior names
Eucalyptus capitellata
Eucalyptus capitellata var. latifolia
Eucalyptus baxteri var. pedicellata
Eucalyptus santalifolia ?var. baxteri
Common names
Brown Stringybark
Baxter's Stringybark
Etymology
Eucalyptus from the Greek 'eu' meaning well and 'calyptos' meaning covered; alluding to the cap or lid which covers the stamens in the bud. Baxteri named after William Baxter (1787-1836), an English gardener who collected in Australia on behalf of English nurserymen and private individuals, including the type specimen for this species in 1828.
Distribution and status
Found on Kangaroo Island, Mount Lofty Ranges and the South-eat in South Australia, growing on well-drained, sandy to gravelly soil of low fertility, in heathy scrub or woodland. Also found in New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Uncommon in New South Wales. Common in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Single-stemmed tree to 30 m high or multi-stemmed to 6 m high with rough, persistent, fibrous bark, brown weathering to grey throughout except the very smallest branches, becoming strongly ridged and furrowed on old trees, shedding to reveal a dark rich-brown furrowed layer below. Juvenile leaves elliptic to lanceolate, rough from numerous short branched hairs. Adult leaves to 8 cm long and 5 cm wide, very oblique, lanceolate to almost ovate, dark, glossy, green, leathery. Flowers in groups of 7-15 in leaf axils, lacking individual stalks. Buds to 10 mm long and 6 mm wide, ovoid, bud-cap cone-shaped to flattened, warty, shorter than the base. Inflorescences axillary clusters with 7-15 white flowers. Flowering between December and February. Fruits are woody round fruit to 12 mm long and 18 mm wide, stalk-less, disc broad, ascending, valves 3 or 4 slightly above the rim. Seeds are dark brown to black irregularly pyramidal seed to 4 mm long and 2 mm wide, with angled sides and covered in fine wrinkles. Seed embryo type is folded.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between January and December. Collect mature fruits that are dark and hard (difficult to break with a finger nail), with the valves un-open any time of year. Leave the fruits in a breathable container in a dry room for one to two weeks. This allows the valves on the fruit to open and release the seeds. Separate the seeds by placing all the materials into a bucket and shaking it to dislodge the seeds. Pass the material through a sieve to separate the unwanted material. The finer material will contain both seeds (soft) and frass (hard) usually distinguishable from each other but can be very similar in shape and colour. With finer sieves, the seeds can be separated from the frass but this is not essential for storage or propagation. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was average, at 65%. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BGA MSB | 4,950 (31.25 g) 4,950 (31.25 g) | 50 | 19-Oct-2005 | DJD150 Southern Lofty | 8-Aug-2006 | 65% | -18°C |