About Eucalyptus cosmophylla F.Muell.
Eucalyptus cosmophylla F.Muell. is most commonly a multi-stemmed mallee that reaches 2 to 5 meters (6 feet 7 inches to 16 feet 5 inches) in height, but may occasionally grow as a single-stemmed tree up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall. It has smooth, pale grey bark that has white or pink areas and is shed in plates. Young plants and coppice regrowth have stems that are roughly square in cross-section, and juvenile leaves that are attached by a petiole. Juvenile leaves are elliptic when they first emerge, becoming egg-shaped later, and measure 40–90 mm (1.6–3.5 in) long and 45–95 mm (1.8–3.7 in) wide. Adult leaves are thick, dull grey-green on both sides, 80–180 mm (3.1–7.1 in) long and 13–50 mm (0.51–1.97 in) wide, attached to a 10–40 mm (0.39–1.57 in) long petiole. Flower buds are arranged in groups of three on an unbranched peduncle 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) long; individual buds are either sessile or attached to a pedicel up to 6 mm (0.24 in) long. Mature buds are oval to pear-shaped, 11–22 mm (0.43–0.87 in) long and 7–15 mm (0.28–0.59 in) wide, with a green to yellow color. They have a rounded, conical, or beaked operculum that is usually shorter than the hypanthium. Flowering takes place between July and November, and the flowers are white to cream-colored with all anthers fertile. The fruit is a woody capsule shaped like a cup, cylinder, or hemisphere, 9–18 mm (0.35–0.71 in) long and 10–22 mm (0.39–0.87 in) wide. It usually has two ribs, a thick rim, and broad valves whose tips typically sit just below the rim. The brown seeds are polyhedral, with narrow wings along their main edges. This species, commonly called cup gum, grows near the coast in open shrubland, open forest, and heath, most often in low-fertility soils. It occurs in the southern Lofty Ranges, Fleurieu Peninsula, and on Kangaroo Island.
