Eucalyptus pulchella
| White peppermint | |
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| Eucalyptus pulchella grassy woodland | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Eucalyptus |
| Species: | E. pulchella |
| Binomial name | |
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Eucalyptus pulchella Desf. |
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Eucalyptus pulchella, commonly known as the white peppermint-gum or white peppermint, is a flowering tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. An erect, smooth-barked tree, it grows to 20m in height and is recognisable by its very narrow leaves.E. pulchella is a lowland species where it occurs on the upper slopes of well drained sites with a Jurassic dolerite substrate in grassy or heathy open forests. Such sites typically have a north-west facing aspect with exposure to high solar insolation loads resulting in periodic drought stress. This species is locally widespread and endemic to the undulating, hilly terrain of south-east Tasmania.
Eucalyptus pulchella is an erect tree growing up to 20 metres (66 ft) in height. It has smooth white or pale grey bark except for at the base of the trunk. Juvenile and adult leaves are narrow (<8mm), linear and pale green to subglaucous in colour.E. pulchella bears the characteristic flowers and fruit of the Eucalyptus genus. The flowers have numerous cream stamens enclosed in an opercula cap which is a fusion of the corolla. As the stamens expand the operculum is forced of revealing the showy stamens. The developing buds are club shaped and the woody fruits, also known as capsules, are small, pear-shaped with a disc level to the rim and occur in umbels greater than 7. The valves at the end of the capsules open to release the small (1mm), rod-shaped seed.
The species was first formally described by the botanist Desfontaines in 1829 in the work Catalogus Plantarum Horti Regii Parisiensis. Known synonyms for the species include Eucalyptus linearis as described by Friedrich Dehnhardt in 1832 a published in Catalogus Plantarum Horti Camaldulensis and as Eucalyptus amygdalina var. angustifolia by Ferdinand von Mueller ex Burtt Davy as published by Burtt Davy and Bailey in 1900 in the work Eucalyptus. Cyclopedia of American Horticulture.Eucalyptus is derived from the Greek words eu, meaning well, and kalypto, meaning to cover which refers to the characteristic operculum which acts as a cap, protecting the flowers. The species name pulchella is a diminutive of the word pulcher which in Latin means beautiful. The common name, white, refers to its smooth white trunk.
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