Narrow-leaved peppermint

Description

Eucalyptus radiata, commonly known as the narrow-leaved peppermint or Forth River peppermint, is a species of tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has rough, fibrous to flaky bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth grey bark on the thinner branches, lance-shaped to curved or almost linear leaves, flower buds in groups of eleven to twenty or more, white flowers and cup-shaped, hemispherical or shortened spherical fruit. Eucalyptus radiata is a tree that typically grows to a height of 10–50 m (33–164 ft) and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, finely fibrous or flaky grey bark on the trunk and branches, usually smooth grey bark on branches thinner than 80 mm (3.1 in). Young plants and coppice regrowth have sessile, narrow lance-shaped to linear leaves that are 33–100 mm (1.3–3.9 in) long, 5–20 mm (0.20–0.79 in) wide, paler on the lower surface and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved or almost linear, 55–120 mm (2.2–4.7 in) long and 6–15 mm (0.24–0.59 in) wide, tapering to a petiole 5–16 mm (0.20–0.63 in) long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils on an unbranched peduncle 2–12 mm (0.079–0.472 in) long, the individual buds on pedicels 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long. Mature buds are club-shaped, 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long and 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) wide with a rounded or conical operculum that is shorter and narrower than the floral cup at the join. Flowering occurs from October to January and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped, hemispherical or shortened spherical capsule 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) long and 4–7 mm (0.16–0.28 in) wide with the valves near rim level. Narrow-leaved peppermint grows in forest and woodland, usually in cooler or wetter habitats. It occurs in New South Wales south from near the Queensland border, in the Australian Capital Territory, to the Wombat State Forest, Great Otway National Park and ranges of South Gippsland in Victoria. It also occurs in Tasmania where it is restricted to the catchment of the Forth River. Subspecies robertsonii is restricted to montane and subalpine forests of north-eastern Victoria. Eucalyptus radiata was first formally described in 1828 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in his book Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis, from an unpublished description by Franz Sieber.