Plants of
South Australia
Eucalyptus macrorhyncha ssp. macrorhyncha
Myrtaceae
Red Stringybark
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
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Keith
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Prior names

Eucalyptus macrorhyncha var. minor

Eucalyptus macrorrhyncha, orth.var.

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. Macrorhyna from the Greek 'macros' meaning large and 'rhynchos' meaning snout or beak; referring to the distinctive beaked bud-caps.

Distribution and status

Found only in a small area in the mid-north in South Australia, growing on gravelly loams in hilly terrain. Also found in New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Rare in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium region: Northern Lofty
NRM region: Northern and Yorke
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Single or multi-stemmed tree to 30 m high with rough fibrous and string grey-brown to red-brown bark. Juvenile leaves ovate to broad-lanceolate, rough with short bristles, dull to glossy green. Adult leaves to 150 mm long and 35 mm wide, lanceolate to slightly curved, glossy green. Inflorescences axillary in groups of 7-11 flowers held erect. Buds to 9 mm long and 5 mm wide, diamond-shaped, bud-cap with a long beak, equal in length to the base. Flowers white appearing in autumn and winter. This species is distinguished from the other stringbarks found in South Australia (E. arenacea, E. baxteri and E. obliqua) which have round to blundley cone-shaped, non-beaked bud-cap. Fruits are woody round fruit to 10 mm long and 12 mm wide, individually stalked, disc broad, ascending, valves 3 or 4 strongly above the rim. Seeds are dark brown to black irregularly pyramidal seed to 2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, with angled sides and covered in fine wrinkles. 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 two collections, the seed viability were low, ranging from 3% to 45%. 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
BGA11,500 (22.48 g)20-Sep-2006Hughes Park
Northern Lofty
1-Aug-200745%-18°C
BGA5,900 (34.15 g)2418-Aug-2014DJD2992
Northern Lofty
1-Jan-201695%-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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