New 'rare' eucalyptus found on remote hill in Aussie bush finally named
The mallee can only be found growing on the coastal granitic slopes of Mt Arid in Cape Arid National Park and adjacent areas.
A “rare” native shrub with unusual leaves found on a remote mountain about 900km from Perth has finally been named after a decade-long journey.
While the eucalyptus sweedmaniana subspecies noongaring — otherwise commonly known as Noongaring muert — has been collected and studied by botanists since the 1960s, it wasn’t until just over 10 years ago that Professor of biodiversity Stephen D. Hopper recognised it as a new and distinct plant.
The mallee can only be found growing on the coastal granitic slopes of Yorlining (Mt Arid) in Cape Arid National Park and adjacent areas, the flora researcher with the University of Western Australia told Yahoo News on Friday after it was formally announced his hard work had paid off. There are only six known populations, ranging from a handful to a few thousand.
“Those granite hills are a really ancient rock, going back one or two billions years. So the rocks you see today are similar to what would have been there 100 million years ago, and it’s just an extraordinarily long period of time for a new species and subspecies to arrive,” he said, describing the eucalyptus plant as featuring “very big, tough, leathery leaves” which are “quite unusual” for the genus.
“The leaves live for several years. We don’t know precisely how long, but I suspect a few decades, if conditions are right,” Professor Hopper added. “Most eucalyptus drop their leaves very regularly.”
The biodiversity expert told Yahoo the subspecies also has “stunning flowers that are a brilliant red colour, which is an adaptation towards attracting birds and honey possums as pollinators.”
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Why did it take so long for the eucalyptus subspecies to be officially named?
Professor Hopper said it wasn’t until he and colleagues started working with the Gabbie Kylie Foundation Field School — which works to conserve and interpret Indigenous heritage in the southeast region — that he was able to really spend some time examining the plant.
Specimens were also observed by the Western Australian Herbarium and living plants in Kings Park and Botanic Garden before all of the information was handed for review — eventually receiving its name in honour of the Noongar Aboriginal people who have cared for the land in the Thomas River–Esperance region for thousands of years.
“Most of the evidence was in by 2014 but since then, I’ve been lucky enough to revisit several of the populations with a number of Noongar colleagues. So I’ve gradually learnt from them about their feeling for the country and their strong support for naming it and recognising it as something special to their country.”
When asked why it took so long for the state’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions officially give the subspecies a name, Professor Hopper said it is time consuming to “develop the expertise to recognise that something might be different from currently known things”.
Also, there “are very few botanists around and especially in that area — it’s a hard place to get to and there’s lots of stuff in between that people get distracted by.”
He’s recommended it be listed as a as Priority 4 under Conservation Codes for Western Australian Flora, but is now turning his attention to kangaroo paws and their relatives.
“Current estimates are about 10 per cent of the flora in the southwest still has to be named,” he said.
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