Plants of
South Australia
Eucalyptus gracilis
Myrtaceae
White Mallee,
Yorrell
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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: 3

Prior names

Eucalyptus calycogona var. gracilis

Eucalyptus gracilis var. breviflora

Eucalyptus gracilis var. erecta

Common names

White Mallee

Yorrell

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. Gracilis from the Latin 'gracilis' meaning slender or graceful; referring to the often graceful and slender habit of the species.

Distribution and status

Found throughout much of South Australia except for the northern arid regions and the south east, growing in mallee shrubland on a variety of soils, often overlying limestone. Also found in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Nullarbor, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Alinytjara Wilurara, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Tree or multi-stemmed mallee to 8 m high with smooth, whitish bark above and rough dark-grey bark at the base. Juvenile leaves elliptical to narrow-lanceolate, dull, blue-green. Adult leaves to 110 mm long and 15 mm wide, alternate, narrow-lanceolate to lanceolate, glossy, darkish-green. Flowers axillary, in groups of 7. Buds to 7 mm long and 5 mm wide, smooth or weakly angled, with individual and group stalks, bud-cap cone-shaped, often shorter than the base. Flowers white. Flowering between February and October. Fruits are barrel-shaped fruit to 8 mm long and 7 mm wide, smooth, disc descending, valves 3 or 4 deeply enclosed in the fruit. Seeds are brown ovoid seed to 1.2 mm long and 0.8 mm wide, faintly reticulate. 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 anytime of year. Leave the fruits in a breathable container in a dry room for at least a week. 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. 1. Germination 100% on 1% w/v agar, 8/16 dark/light, 20°C. 2. Germination 100% on 1% w/v agar, 8/16 dark/light, 25°C. See http://data.kew.org/sid

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
6,500 (3.71 g)
6,500 (3.71 g)
1025-Nov-2003MKJ2
Yorke Peninsula
1-Sep-2004100%+5°C, -18°C
BGA 
MSB
17,000 (3.91 g)
17,000 (3.91 g)
30+8-Dec-2005DJD310
Gairdner-Torrens
8-Aug-2006100%-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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