About Eucalyptus curtisii Blakely & C.T.White
Eucalyptus curtisii, commonly called Plunkett mallee, is a slender mallee or small tree that typically reaches 7 to 12 meters (23 to 39 feet) in height and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth grey to silvery bark that sheds in short curly flakes. Young plants and coppice regrowth have linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves that measure 30 to 62 millimeters (1.2 to 2.4 inches) long and 3 to 6 millimeters (0.12 to 0.24 inches) wide, with a slightly darker green shade on the upper leaf surface. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, elliptic, or curved, glossy green and much paler on the lower surface. They are 60 to 140 millimeters (2.4 to 5.5 inches) long, 10 to 30 millimeters (0.39 to 1.18 inches) wide, and grow on a petiole 7 to 18 millimeters (0.28 to 0.71 inches) long. Flower buds are arranged in groups of seven on a branching inflorescence near stem ends, with each branch holding groups of seven buds. The groups grow on a peduncle 7 to 17 millimeters (0.28 to 0.67 inches) long, and individual buds sit on a pedicel 2 to 5 millimeters (0.079 to 0.197 inches) long. Mature buds are oval to pear-shaped, 5 to 8 millimeters (0.20 to 0.31 inches) long and 4 to 7 millimeters (0.16 to 0.28 inches) wide, with a rounded operculum. Flowering occurs from September to December, and the flowers are white to creamy white. The fruit is a woody, wrinkled, cup-shaped capsule 5 to 11 millimeters (0.20 to 0.43 inches) long and 6 to 11 millimeters (0.24 to 0.43 inches) wide. This species grows in shrubland and open forest on poorly drained sites between Beenleigh, Inglewood, Dalby, and Theodore in south-east Queensland.
