Plants of
South Australia
Eucalyptus lansdowneana
Myrtaceae
Crimson-flowered Mallee Box,
Crimson Mallee
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Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 2

Common names

Crimson-flowered Mallee Box

Crimson 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. Lansdowneana named after Thomas Lansdowne Brown (1860-1931), collector of the type specimen and son of the well-known old colonist and geographical explorer Dr. John Browne, where the tree was found on his property Pandura Run in the Gawler Ranges.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found on the higher, south-western part of the Gawler ranges, growing on rocky slopes and tops of various hills in open mallee vegetation. Native. Rare in South Australia.
Herbarium region: Eyre Peninsula
NRM region: Eyre Peninsula
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Multi-stemmed mallee to 6 m high with an open crown and rough, loose bark on the lower stems. Juvenile leaves ovate to broad-lanceolate, dull green. Adult leaves to 180 mm long and 30 mm wide, broad-lanceolate, very glossy, green to yellow-green. Inflorescences terminal in groups of 7 flowers. Bubs to 14 mm long and 7 mm wide, club-shaped with a few ribs or angle, bud-cap cone-shaped. Flowers crimson red aging to pink appearing in winter and spring. Fruits are woody cylindrical to urn-shaped fruit to 12 mm long and 12 mm wide, lacking individual stalks, with 1-3 longitudinal ribs, disc descending, valves 4-5 below the rim. Seeds are brown ovoid seed to 1.5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, with fine mesh-like 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 three collections, the seed viability were average to high, ranging from 70% to 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
BGA4,500 (3.19 g)103-Oct-2005KHB5
Eyre Peninsula
8-Aug-200690%-18°C
BGA 
MSB
40,000 (28.4 g)
40,000 (28.4 g)
100+3-Oct-2005KHB2
Eyre Peninsula
8-Aug-200670%-18°C
BGA21,000 (10.62 g)20-May-2014DJD2979
Eyre Peninsula
24-Mar-2015100%-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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