About Eucalyptus macrocarpa Hook.
Eucalyptus macrocarpa Hook. is a mallee that typically grows 0.5 to 8 meters (1 foot 8 inches to 26 feet 3 inches) tall. It has a sprawling or spreading growth habit and forms a lignotuber. Its bark is smooth, shiny, and brownish overlaid with a salmon-pink color. The plant's crown is made up entirely of juvenile leaves. These leaves are sessile, arranged in opposite pairs, heart-shaped with bases that wrap around the stem, glaucous, 55 to 85 millimeters (2.2 to 3.3 inches) long, and 35 to 50 millimeters (1.4 to 2.0 inches) wide. Glaucous flower buds are arranged singly in leaf axils, on a peduncle 1 to 7 millimeters (0.039 to 0.276 inches) long and a pedicel that can reach up to 5 millimeters (0.20 inches) long. Mature buds are oval, 40 to 55 millimeters (1.6 to 2.2 inches) long, 25 to 30 millimeters (0.98 to 1.18 inches) wide, and have a beaked operculum. Flowering occurs from August to January, and can also occur in April or June. Flowers are most often red, and very rarely creamy white. The fruit is a sessile, woody, broadly conical capsule 12 to 20 millimeters (0.47 to 0.79 inches) long, 33 to 45 millimeters (1.3 to 1.8 inches) wide, with valves that protrude above the fruit's rim. Commonly called mottlecah, this species grows in sandy soil in undulating heath between Eneabba, Cataby, and Kulin in Western Australia. The subspecies Eucalyptus macrocarpa subsp. elachantha has a more restricted distribution, occurring south-east of Geraldton. In horticulture, Eucalyptus macrocarpa is easily propagated from seed. It requires good drainage, and a dry, frost-free climate to grow successfully. It was first grown from seed at Kew Gardens in 1842, and first flowered there in 1847.
