Plants of
South Australia
Eucalyptus flindersii
Myrtaceae
Flinders Mallee,
Flinders Grey Mallee
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 2

Prior names

Eucalyptus morrisii, partly

Common names

Flinders Mallee

Flinders Grey Mallee

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. Flindersii named after the explorer Captain Matthew Flinders (1774-1814), after whom the Flinders Ranges were named.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and restricted to the Flinders Ranges with outlying populations on Devils Peak and Olary Spur, growing on the upper slopes and ridges of higher hills. Native. Rare in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula
NRM regions: Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Multi- or single-stemmed trees to 10 m high with smooth, dull, grey bark, shedding in flakes to reveal a paler layer, some rough bark persisting at the base. Juvenile leaves elliptic to ovate. Adult leaves to 180 mm long and 30 mm wide,narrow-lanceolate to lanceolate, dull to slightly glossy, green to blue-green, veins clear. Flowers in groups of 3-7 in the axils of the leaves. Buds to 13 mm long and 6 mm wide, smooth, ovoid to obovoid, bud-cap cone-shaped, longer than the base; Flowers white. Flowering between September and November. Fruits are ovoid to broadly cone-shaped fruit to 8 mm long to 10 mm wide , smooth, disk level to ascending, valves triangular, exserted above the rim. Seeds are dark brown to black irregularly pyramidal-shaped seed to 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide, fine wrinkled. 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 high, at 95%. 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
BGA 
MSB
16,700 (7.28 g)
16,700 (7.28 g)
2612-Jan-2006DDC1448
Flinders Ranges
8-Aug-200695%-18°C
BGA26,000 (7.68 g)3027-Sep-2013KHB762
Flinders Ranges
1-Jan-2016100%-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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