Eucalyptus crucis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Rosids |
Order: | Myrtales |
Family: | Myrtaceae |
Genus: | Eucalyptus |
Species: | E. crucis |
Binomial name | |
Eucalyptus crucis Maiden |
Eucalyptus crucis, commonly known as the silver mallee, is a eucalypt that is native to Western Australia.
The mallee typically grows to a height of 2 to 15 metres (7 to 49 ft) and has red-brown-grey minni ritchi type bark which curls and peels to expose lighter coloured bark underneath. It blooms between September and March producing white-cream flowers. The small tree with silvery coloured foliage and a multi-stemmed mallee habit. It grows to a width of 4 to 10 metres (13 to 33 ft). The inflorescences have a capsular disc with a very incurved rim. The adult leaves are rather thick, very shortly petiolate, from lanceolate to nearly ovoid and ovoid-lanceolate in shape.
It is found in a area in the Goldfields-Esperance and Wheatbelt region of Western Australia where it grows in sandy, clay or loam soils amongst granite outcrops. The tree is associated with sheoak (Allocasuarina), wattle (Acacia) and One-sided Bottlebrush (Calothamnus). It is frost and drought tolerant and is suitable for alkaline soils. Commonly used as a windbreak, street tree, decorative fruit, erosion control, honey producing plant and a bird nesting plant.
There are three known subspecies: