Plants of
South Australia
Eucalyptus vokesensis
Myrtaceae
Vokes Hill Mallee
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Eucalyptus yumbarrana ssp. striata, [= E. canescens ssp. canescens x

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. Vokesensis named after Vokes Hill, between Serpentine Lakes and Emu in the Great Victoria Desert, which is one of the localities where the species occurs. Vokes Hill and other nearby geographical features were named after W. Voakes.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and restricted to the Great Victoria Desert growing on deep red sand on sand dunes and broad swales between dunes in open mallee vegetation. Native. Rare in South Australia.
Herbarium region: North Western
NRM region: Alinytjara Wilurara
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Multi-stemmed mallee to 7 m tall with rough, fibrous, grey to grey-brown bark on lower stems and smooth, tan to grey to cream bark above. Branchlets waxy with juvenile leaves ovate, waxy, dull blue-grey. Adult leaves to 110 mm long and 54 mm wide, ovate to broad-lanceolate, waxy, dull, blue-grey. Flowers axillary in groups of 9 on long stalks. Buds to 15 mm long and 7 mm wide, waxy, bud-cap horn-shaped longer than the base. Flowers pale yellow appearing sporadically following rain. Fruits are round to barrel-shaped to urn-shaped fruit to 10.5 mm long and 9 mm wide, waxy, disc descending, valves 4 below the rim. Seeds are dark brown to grey ovoid seed to 4 mm long and 2 mm wide, with smooth surface. 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 100%. 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
3,500 (4.75 g)
3,500 (4.75 g)
20+15-May-2014JRG95
North Western
24-Mar-2015100%-18°C
BGA6,000 (4.75 g)223-Sep-2014JRG95
North Western
1-Jan-201650%-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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