NZ Myrtaceae Key - Online edition

Eucalyptus pulchella Desf.


Common Names

narrow-leaved peppermint, white peppermint, white peppermint gum

Origin

Australia: hilly country of south-eastern Tasmania.

Cultivation

In New Zealand occasionally cultivated in parks or forestry trials; a few records of naturalisation from nearby specimens.

Distribution

Occasional throughout New Zealand.

Distinguishing Features

  • A small to medium-sized tree to 20 m tall, with smooth bark throughout on smaller trees but on larger trees rough, fibrous, grey to grey-brown bark for about 1–2 m of trunk; smooth bark white, cream, yellow, pink and grey, shedding in ribbons.
  • Adult leaves usually dark green, same colour above and below, glossy, alternate, stalked, with a long narrow blade, to 120 mm long and 10 mm wide, base tapering to leaf stalk, tip tapering to a fine point; juvenile leaves opposite and stalkless for 5 to 8 nodes, then like small adult leaves.
  • Flowers in clusters of 9–15 or more, in leaf axils; mature buds short-stalked, club-shaped, to 6 mm long and 3 mm wide, green, cap rounded; flowers white.
  • Fruit usually short-stalked or rarely stalkless woody capsule, usually crowded, cup-shaped to truncated globose, to 8 mm long and 7 mm wide, disc slightly raised, level or slightly descending inside the rim, valves usually 4, near rim level or enclosed.

Habit

A small to medium-sized tree to 20 m tall.

Bark and Stem/Trunk

Bark smooth throughout on smaller trees but on larger trees rough, fibrous, grey to grey-brown for about 1–2 m of trunk; smooth bark white, cream, yellow, pink and grey, shedding in ribbons. Hairs and adventitious roots absent. Young stems rounded in cross-section, warty.

Leaves

Adult leaves alternate, stalked, blade narrow with parallel sides, 33–120 mm long, 3–10 mm wide, base tapering to stalk, tip tapering to a fine point, glossy, usually dark green, same colour above and below, hairless, side-veins at an acute angle to the midrib, or obscure, vein reticulation not visible or very sparse, intramarginal vein parallel to and just within margin; oil glands present, strong peppermint smell when leaves are crushed; leaf stalk 2–10 mm long.

Juvenile leaves opposite and stalkless for 5 to 8 nodes, then alternate, short-stalked, narrow-lanceolate to parallel-sided, 20–35 mm long, 2–4 mm wide, green.

Flowers

Flowers in clusters of 9–15 or more, in leaf axils, stalk of cluster angular in cross-section, 2–8 mm long. Mature buds free, club-shaped, 3–6 mm long, 2–3 mm wide, green, cap usually rounded, flowers (stamens) white; in mature open flowers, petals and sepals absent. Main flowering period: late spring, summer and early autumn.

Fruit

Capsules woody, rarely stalkless, usually on stalks to 3 mm long, usually crowded, cup-shaped to truncated globose, 4–8 mm long, 5–7 mm wide; disc slightly raised, level or slightly descending inside the rim, valves usually 4, near rim level or enclosed.

Similar Species

Eucalyptus tenuiramis and E. pulchella both have smooth bark throughout, sometimes with some rough bark retained around the base. However, E. pulchella may have some ribbons in the crown, and the leaves are dark green, whereas the crown of E. tenuiramis is likely to have opposite, stalked, waxy grey-white intermediate leaves as well as green to blue-green, alternate adult leaves. Both E. pulchella and E. tenuiramis have flower buds in clusters of 9–15 or more, but E. tenuiramis has buds that are waxy green-white, smooth or minutely warty only on the cap, whereas buds of E. pulchella are green, with a smooth rounded cap. Capsules of E. pulchella are brown when mature, but those of E. tenuiramis are distinctly waxy-white or green with white speckling due to wax retention in pits on the fruit surface.

Notes

Eucalyptus is a genus of nearly 800 species, most of which are endemic to Australia, with a few species extending to parts of Malesia and as far north as the Philippines.

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