Eucalyptus ceratocorys
Eucalyptus ceratocorys, also known as the horn-capped mallee, is a mallee that is native to South Australia and Western Australia. It has rough, ribbony bark at the base of its trunk, smooth greyish bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine with ridges along the sides, white to cream-coloured flowers and cylindrical fruit. Description. "Eucalyptus ceratocorys" is a mallee, rarely a straggly tree, that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has rough flaky bark near the base of the trunks and shaggy, ribbony bark above  that does not shed cleanly. Young plants and coppice regrowth have stems that are square in cross-section and greyish green, egg-shaped leaves long and wide. Adult leaves are the same glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are usually arranged in groups of seven or nine on a peduncle long, the individual buds on a pedicel long. Mature buds are oval to pear-shaped with ridges along the sides, long and wide with a beaked operculum long. Flowering occurs between July and December and the flowers are white  to cream coloured, rarely red. The fruit is a woody, cylindrical capsule long and wide with ridges along the sides. The fruit have a pedicel long. Taxonomy and naming. The horn-capped mallee was first formally described in 1934 by William Blakely who gave it the name "Eucalyptus angulosa" var. "ceratocorys" from a specimen collected near Comet Vale. Blakely published the description in his book "A key to the Eucalypts". In 1988, Lawrie Johnson and Ken Hill raised the variety to species status as "Eucalyptus ceratocorys". The specific epithet ("ceratocorys") is derived from the Ancient Greek words "keras" meaning "horn  and korys" meaning "helmet", referring to the beaked operculum of this species. Distribution and habitat. "Eucalyptus ceratocorys" grows in sandy soil in shrubland between Koorda and the southern fringe of the Great Victoria Desert in the southern Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia. Conservation status. This eucalypt is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.