About Eucalyptus foecunda subsp. foecunda
Eucalyptus foecunda subsp. foecunda, commonly called narrow-leaved red mallee, is a mallee that typically grows to 3 metres (9.8 feet) tall, occasionally reaching 5 metres (16 feet) as a tree, and it forms a lignotuber. Its bark is flaky at the base, and smooth, grey and reddish-brown elsewhere. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull green, elliptic to lance-shaped leaves that are 40–80 mm (1.6–3.1 in) long and 2–20 mm (0.079–0.787 in) wide. Adult leaves are narrow lance-shaped to narrow oblong, glossy green the same shade on both sides, 50–95 mm (2.0–3.7 in) long and 5–13 mm (0.20–0.51 in) wide, borne on a petiole 5–17 mm (0.20–0.67 in) long. Flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of nine or eleven on an unbranched peduncle 5–13 mm (0.20–0.51 in) long, with individual buds attached to pedicels 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long. Mature buds are oval to spindle-shaped, 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in) long and 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) wide, with a conical or beaked operculum 2.5–6 mm (0.098–0.236 in) long. Flowering occurs in August, or between January and February, and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped capsule that is 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and wide. This subspecies looks very similar to Eucalyptus petrensis, but E. petrensis has a more persistent style on its fruit. Eucalyptus leucophylla was formerly classified as part of E. foecunda, but it differs in having broader juvenile leaves, mostly smooth bark, and a shorter, more rounded operculum. This narrow-leaved red mallee grows in limy sands near the coast of Western Australia, between Lancelin and Mandurah.
