Plants of
South Australia
Eucalyptus canescens ssp. beadellii
Myrtaceae
Beadell's Mallee
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Rare
Vulnerable
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Prior names

Eucalyptus striaticalyx, partly

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. Canescens from the Latin 'canescens' meaning becoming grey; referring to the greyish leaves and waxy branchlets, buds and fruits giving the plant a greyish appearance. Beadellii named after Leonard (Len) Beadell (1923-1995), a surveyor, roadbuilder, bushman, artist and author, responible for opening up the last remaining isolated desert areas of central Australia including the Great Victoria Desert, Gilbson Desert and the Great andy Desert.

Distribution and status

Found in the far western part of South Australia, restricted to the southern Great Victoria Desert, growing in open mallee on deep red sand. Also found in Western Australia. Native. Very rare in South Australia. Very rare in Western Australia.
Herbarium region: North Western
NRM region: Alinytjara Wilurara
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Multi-stemmed mallee to 6 m tall with rough stringy-fibrous to flaky-fibrous, yellow-brown to grey bark on lower stems and smooth bark above. Juvenile leaves opposite for 1-3 pairs, ovate. Adult leaves to 115 mm long and 55 mm wide, elliptical to ovate to broad-lanceolate, dull to slightly glossy, green. Flowers axillary, umbel with 7 flowers, held erect. Buds to 16 mm long and 12 mm wide, bud-cap hemisperical, ribbed, equal in width or wider than the bud-base. Flowers creamy-white. This subspecies is distinguished from E. canescens ssp. canescens by its non-waxy green adult leaves, branchlets, buds and fruits. Fruits are obconical to shortly cylindrical fruit, smooth to weakly ribbed, to 16 mm long and 14 mm, disc level to descending, valves 4 or 5, at or just below rim level. Seeds are brown pyramidal-shaped seed to 4 mm long and 3 mm wide, with 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. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA20,000 (41.08 g)2523-Sep-2014DJD3041
North Western
1-Jan-201680%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
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