Yellow Mallee,
Ridge-fruited 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
Display IBRA region text
Lucindale (NCP03) | Naracoorte Coastal Plain | Least Concern |
Tintinara (NCP04) | | Least Concern |
Fleurieu (KAN02) | Kanmantoo | Near Threatened [common in Monarto CP; edge of range; J Quarmby thinks VUD2] |
Mount Lofty Ranges (FLB01) | Flinders Lofty Block | Vulnerable (IUCN: VU D2) [only in northern area; localised pop.] |
Broughton (FLB02) | | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i)) (Probable Decline) |
Olary Spur (FLB03) | | Vulnerable (IUCN: VU D1+2) |
Southern Yorke (EYB01) | Eyre Yorke Block | Least Concern |
St Vincent (EYB02) | | Rare (IUCN: RA d(ii)) (Probable Decline) |
Eyre Hills (EYB03) | | Least Concern |
Talia (EYB04) | | Least Concern |
Eyre Mallee (EYB05) | | Least Concern |
South Olary Plain (MDD01) | Murray Darling Depression | Least Concern |
Murray Mallee (MDD02) | | Least Concern |
Murray Lakes and Coorong (MDD03) | | Least Concern |
Lowan Mallee (MDD04) | | Least Concern |
Wimmera (MDD05) | | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i,ii)) |
Murray Scroll Belt (RIV06) | Riverina | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i,ii)) [PLang not sure if in this region] |
Myall Plains (GAW01) | Gawler | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i,ii)) |
Gawler Volcanics (GAW02) | | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i,ii)) |
Yellabinna (GVD06) | Great Victoria Desert | Data Deficient [Taxonomic issues all records this subregion; Ooldea record wrong ID] |
2 of 4 subregions | Naracoorte Coastal Plain | Least Concern |
Fleurieu (KAN02) | Kanmantoo | Near Threatened [common in Monarto CP; edge of range; J Quarmby thinks VUD2] |
3 of 6 subregions | Flinders Lofty Block | Rare , Vulnerable |
5 of 5 subregions | Eyre Yorke Block | Least Concern , Rare |
5 of 6 subregions | Murray Darling Depression | Least Concern , Rare |
Murray Scroll Belt (RIV06) | Riverina | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i,ii)) [PLang not sure if in this region] |
2 of 8 subregions | Gawler | Rare |
Yellabinna (GVD06) | Great Victoria Desert | Data Deficient [Taxonomic issues all records this subregion; Ooldea record wrong ID] |
Botanical art
Kath Alcock paintings: 13
Prior names
Eucalyptus incrassata ssp. costata
Eucalyptus incrassata var. angulosa, partly
Eucalyptus costata ssp. murrayana
Eucalyptus incrassata var. costata
Eucalyptus costata
Common names
Yellow Mallee
Ridge-fruited 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. Incrassata from the Latin 'incrassatus' meaning thickened; referring to the thick leaves.
Distribution and status
Found in the southern part of South Australia, growing on well-drained sandy soils usually overlaying limestone in mallee shrublands. Also found in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Multi- or single-stemmed trees to 5 m high with smooth, grey or grey-brown bark, shedding in strips to reveal a paler layer and rough bark at the base. Juvenile leaves ovate to lanceolate, dull, blue-green soon becoming glossy, green. Adult leaves to 150 mm long and 30 mm wide, alternate, lanceolate, glossy, thick, palish-green. Flowers in groups of 3-7 in the axils of the leaves. Buds to 23 mm long and 11 mm wide, on stalk to 7 mm long, ellipsoid or narrowly obovoid to urn-shaped, faintly striate to ridged, bud-cap cone-shape, equal in length to the base. Flowers cream sometimes aging to pink appearing in winter to summer. Fruits are thick-walled, barrel-shaped to urn-shape fruit to 18 mm long and 12 mm wide, faintly striate to strongly ribbed, with narrow rim and descending disk, valves 3 or 4 level of or below the rim. Seeds are dark brown to black, irregularly pyramidal seed to 4 mm long and 2.3 mm wide. 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 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 three collections, the seed viability were average to high, ranging from 60% to 100%. 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 | 1,300 (1.85 g) | 5 | 5-Nov-2003 | PJA40 Murray | 1-Sep-2004 | 100% | +5°C, -18°C |
BGA MSB | 16,500 (50.5 g) 16,500 (50.5 g) | 40 | 20-Oct-2005 | DJD149 Murray | 8-Aug-2006 | 95% | -18°C |
BGA | 480 (0.48 g) | 1 | 24-Sep-2003 | PJA31 Eyre Peninsula | 14-Aug-2006 | | -18°C |
BGA | 1,500 (6.1 g) | 1 | 16-Sep-2003 | PJA23 Murray | 14-Aug-2006 | | -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:
Display
Date | Result | T0 | T50 | Pre-treatment | Germination medium | Incubator: Photoperiod / Thermoperiod |
Jun-04 | 82% | 17 | 35 |
20% hydrogen peroxide 10 min, water rinse; 1% agar; 8/16; / 20°C |
Result: Maximum percentage of germination observed.
T0: Number of days before first germinant observed.
T50: Number of days to achieve 50% germination.
Pre-treatment: The initial treatment that the seeds received prior to placement on germination media.
Germination medium: The substrate that seeds were placed on for the duration of the germination experiment.
Incubator conditions:
Photoperiod: The duration of light exposure that the seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Thermoperiod: The constant or diurnal temperatures that seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Winter conditions: 15°C 20 h (3am→11pm); 5°C 4 h (11pm→3am) / 10 h light (8am→6pm); 14 h dark (6pm→8am)
Spring/Autumn conditions: 22°C 12 h (8am→8pm); 10°C 12 h (8pm→8am) / 12 h light (8am→8pm); 12 h dark (8pm→8am)
Summer conditions: 30°C 14 h (6am→8pm); 15°C 10 h (8pm→6am) / 14 h light (6am→8pm); 10 h dark (8pm→6am)