Eucalyptus petiolaris
Eucalyptus petiolaris, commonly known as Eyre Peninsula blue gum, water gum or blue gum, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to South Australia. It is also naturalised in Western Australia. It has rough, flaky bark on the trunk, smooth greyish bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, cream-coloured, yellow, pink or red flowers and cup-shaped or barrel-shaped fruit. Description. "Eucalyptus petiolaris" is a tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, flaky bark on part or all  of the trunk, smooth greyish and yellowish bark above. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull greyish green, egg-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped or curved, long and wide tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of three on an unbranched, pendent peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Mature buds are oval to cylindrical, long and wide with a conical to slightly beaked operculum. Flowering occurs from August to January and the flowers are cream -coloured to yellow or pink to brilliant red. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped or barrel-shaped capsule long and wide with the valves enclosed below the rim. Taxonomy. Eyre Peninsula blue gum was first formally described in 1979 by Douglas John Boland who gave it the name "Eucalyptus leucoxylon" subsp. "petiolaris". The description was published in "Australian Forest Research" from material he collected near Pillaworta Creek in 1971. In 1992, Kevin James Rule raised the subspecies to species status as "E. petiolaris". The specific epithet ("petiolaris") is from Latin, meaning "having a petiole". Distribution and habitat. "Eucalyptus petiolaris