Eucalyptus wandoo is a medium-sized tree widely distributed in southwest Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

Description

It grows as a small to medium-sized tree up to 25 metres in height. It has smooth bark, often in mottled patches of white, light grey, light brown light yellow and pink. Old layers of bark come of in flakes, and it is not uncommon for a few flakes to persist on the trunk for a long time. Young stems may be round or square in cross-section.

Adult leaves are usually a greyish-green or greyish-blue, the same on both sides, lanceolate, 7.5 to 12.5 centimetres long, 1 to 2.8 centimetres wide, on a petiole one to two centimetres long. Flowers are white, and occur in clusters of 9 to 17.

This is a lignotuber

Lignotuber

A lignotuber is a starchy swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem by fire. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, and a sufficient store of nutrients to support a period of growth in the absence of...

ous species.

Taxonomy

This taxon was first published as Eucalyptus redunca

Eucalyptus redunca

Eucalyptus redunca, the black marlock, black-barked marlock, wandoo or myrtan, is a tree species in the genus Eucalyptus. E. redunca produces a tannin of the condensed type.-See also:* List of Eucalyptus species* List of honey plants...

var. elata by George Bentham

George Bentham

George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...

 in 1867. In 1934 William Faris Blakely promoted it to species rank, and, since there was already a species named Eucalyptus elata

Eucalyptus elata

Eucalyptus elata, River peppermint, River white gum, is a medium to tall tree with rough bark on the lower trunk, compact with narrow longitudinal fissures, dark grey, shedding above in long ribbons, often remaining in the crown, to leave a smooth, grey, cream or whitish surface.Adult leaves are...

, renamed it Eucalyptus wandoo. The specific epithet "wandoo" comes from the Noongar

Noongar

The Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...

 name for the tree.

It is placed in genus Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

, subgenus Symphyomyrtus, section Bisectae, subsection Glandulosae, series Levispermae, subseries Cubiformes.

Two subspecies are recognised:

• E. wandoo subsp. pulverea occurs only in the northern extreme of the species' distribution. Young branches of this subspecies have a waxy coating that is easily rubbed off; and the bark is powdery.
• E. wandoo subsp. wandoo is the autonym
  Autonym (botany)
  In botanical nomenclature, autonyms are automatically created names, as regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature . Autonyms are cited without an author. Relevant provisions are in articles 6.8, 22.1-3 and 26.1-3....
  
  is subspecies, and the most common and widely distributed of the two. Branches are not coated, and the bark is not powdery.

Distribution and habitat

Endemic to the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, E. wandoo occurs from Geraldton to the south coast, and from the west coast inland as far as Narembeen. It grows in loamy and stony soils, in undulating terrain.

Uses

The wood of this species is extremely dense, and is used for a range of heavy duty construction purposes, including as railway sleepers and wood flooring

Wood flooring

Wood flooring is any product manufactured from timber that is designed for use as flooring, either structural or aesthetic. Bamboo flooring is often considered a wood floor, although it is made from a grass rather than a timber....

. There was once an industry in the extraction of tannin

Tannin

A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...

 from the bark and wood. These days the wood is not much available, as the wandoo forests are preserved for recreation and watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 protection. Wandoo is also famous for the honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...

 produced from its nectar.