Eucalyptus conglobata

Eucalyptus conglobata, also known as the cong mallee or Port Lincoln mallee, is a species of eucalypt that is native to the south coast of Western Australia and South Australia. It is a mallee with smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and clustered hemispherical fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus conglomerata" is a mallee that typically grows to a height of or rarely a tree to . It has smooth grey to brown-tan over creamy grey bark. Its young plants and coppice regrowth have stems that are more or less square in cross-section, and leaves that are dull bluish green, egg-shaped to broadly lance-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves are usually dull bluish green, lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven in leaf axils on a peduncle up to long, the individual buds sessile. Mature buds are crowded together, oval, green to yellow, long and wide. Flowering occurs from November to May and the flowers are white. The fruit are woody hemispherical capsules crowded together and flattened on one side.
Taxonomy and naming.
Cong mallee was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham from an unpublished description by Robert Brown who gave it the name "Eucalyptus dumosa" var. "conglobata". The description was published in "Flora Australiensis". In 1922, Joseph Maiden raised the variety to species status as "Eucalyptus conglobata".
In 1972 Ian Brooker described two subspecies, subsp. "conglobata" as a synonym of "Eucalyptus dumosa" var. "conglobata", and subsp. "fraseri". "Eucalyptus conglobata" subsp. "conglobata" is accepted by the Australian Plant Census.
In 2004, Brooker and Andrew Slee described "Eucalyptus conglobata" subsp. "perata", a name that has been accepted by the Australian Plant Census.
The specific epithet ("conglobata") possibly refers to the clusters of flower buds and fruit. The name "perata" is from the Latin "peratus" meaning "western", referring to the distribution of this subspecies compared to subspecies "conglobata".
Subspecies "conglobata" has fruit that are in diameter whereas subspecies "perata" has narrower leaves, smaller buds and fruit in diameter.
Distribution and habitat.
Cong mallee grows in tall shrubland. Subspecies "conglobata" is the only subspecies occurring in South Australia where it occurs near Port Lincoln, but is also common between Israelite Bay, Esperance and Salmon Gums. Subspecies "perata" is common west of Esperance, including in the Stirling Ranges, Fitzgerald River National Park and Ravensthorpe. Where the ranges overlap, it is difficult to distinguish between the two subspecies.
Conservation status.
Both subspecies of "Eucalyptus conglobata" are classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.