Eucalyptus gittinsii

Eucalyptus gittinsii, commonly known as northern sandplain mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth greyish bark, sometimes with rough flaky bark near the base, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, whitish flowers and cylindrical to barrel-shaped fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus gittinsii" is a mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth brownish to white bark, sometimes with rough, flaky bark that peels off near the base of the trunk. Young plants and coppice regrowth have leaves arranged in opposite pairs, broadly lance-shaped, long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide on a petiole long long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of three on a peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Mature buds are club-shaped, long and wide with a rounded to flattened operculum. Flowering occurs between December and February and the flowers are white or whitish. The fruit is a woody, cylindrical to barrel-shaped capsule that is more or less square in cross-section, long and wide.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus gittinsii" was first formally described in 1978 by Ian Brooker and Donald Blaxell in the journal "Nuytsia" from a specimen that Blaxell collected "67 km south of 'Billabong Roadhouse'" in 1975. The specific epithet honours Clifford Halliday Gittins (1904 - 1995) for his assistance to the National Herbarium of New South Wales.
In 2000, Dean Nicolle described two subspecies and the names have been accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
Distribution and habitat.
The northern sandplain mallee is found along the west coast of Western Australia on sand plains, sand dune and ridges in the Mid West and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy soils often with lateritic gravel. Subspecies "gittinsii" grows in and near the Kalbarri National Park and subspecies "illucida" between Three Springs and the Moore River.
Conservation status.
Both subspecies of "E. gittinsii" are classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.