Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 87:109-114, 2004 
Coppice treatment gives hope to a rare and endangered mallee eucalypt in 
the south-west of Western Australia 
R M Robinson 1 and M Spencer 2 
1 Science Division, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Manjimup, WA 6258 
El richardr@calm.wa.gov.au 
2 Regional Services Division, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Busselton, WA 6280 
(Manuscript received February 2004; accepted October 2004) 
Abstract 
Eucalyptus phylacis is a critically endangered mallee eucalypt known from a single clonal 
population of 27 ramets in the south-west of Western Australia. The clone is estimated to be about 
6400 years old but was only recently discovered. Prior to its discovery, part of the population was 
destroyed during the construction of a road. More recently the health of the population has 
declined and is threatened by a stem canker pathogen. This paper discusses the use of coppice 
treatment as a method of combating canker disease and restoring the health and vigour of the 
ramets within the population. 
Keywords: Eucalyptus phylacis , meelup mallee, rare plant, clonal eucalypt, coppice 
Introduction 
Eucalyptus phylacis L.A.S.Johnson & K.D.Hill is a small 
mallee or tree up to 5 m tall, with distinctive rough and 
flaky bark on the stems, and produces creamy white 
flowers in February and March. It is commonly known 
as the Meelup mallee. It was only recently discovered 
and described (Hill and Johnson 1992) and survives as a 
single population in the Meelup Regional Park 
approximately 200 km south of Perth, Western Australia 
(Kelly et al. 1995). RAPD analysis showed that the 
population is made up of a single clone (Rossetto et al. 
1999) comprising 27 known ramets (an individual plant 
derived from a clone) within an area of 0.09 ha. Based on 
the total area that the ramets occupy and assuming a 
peripheral growth rate of 0.5 cm year 1 , Rossetto et al 
(1999) estimated the clone to be about 6400 years old, 
suggesting that it is potentially the oldest eucalypt plant 
on record. £. phylacis is thought to be a hybrid as it does 
not produce viable seed, despite producing masses of 
flowers annually and forming fruit. It grows on a loamy 
lateritic ridge near the coast in woodland dominated by 
E. marginata and Corymbia callophylla. It is also within the 
geographic range of another closely related mallee, E. 
decipiens. 
E. phylacis was originally discovered in 1981 by N. 
Marchant from the Western Australain Herbarium and 
the original collection made by K.H. Rechinger in 1982. 
It was declared as Rare Flora in 1987 under the Wildlife 
Conservation Act 1950 and ranked as Critically 
Endangered in 2003. The main threats to it are poor 
genetic diversity, poor regeneration, insect and fungal 
threats, modified fire regimes and road maintenance 
activities (Patten et al. 2004). Originally the population 
was larger, but prior to its discovery road construction 
(pre 1955), subsequent realignment and the 
© Royal Society of Western Australia 2004 
development of a scenic lookout (between 1955 and 
1966) destroyed an unknown number of ramets. Once 
the significance of the plant became known, access to 
the lookout was restricted and in 2002 a new lookout 
was constructed and the original site rehabilitated. In 
the early 1990s, damage by wood boring insects and 
canker development in the bark was observed on many 
stems. A number of canker-causing fungi, including 
Botrysphaeria australis, have recently been isolated and 
identified (Scott 2003). A large number of stems within 
the population have died and bark splitting (Fig.la) and 
severe canker development (Fig. lb,c) is evident on 
almost all the remaining stems. Meanwhile, an Interim 
Recovery Plan has been completed (Patten et al. 2004) 
that describes other management options that are being 
explored to aid the recovery and to promote the health 
of the population. 
One practical option available for the recovery of E. 
phylacis is to coppice the ramets in order to promote new 
vigorous healthy growth. It is well known that mallee 
eucalypts re-sprout following fire (Noble et al. 1980, 
Noble 2001) and following removal of the stems by 
cutting (Noble 1982). Both events result in the rapid 
development of a multi stemmed habit arising from a 
woody rootstock or lignotuber (Noble 2001). It is also 
recognised that healthy vigorous plants are more 
resistant to pathogen attack and that canker diseases are 
more common in stressed and ageing individuals (Old 
and Davison 2000). Local records and knowledge suggest 
that the E. phylacis population has not experienced fire 
for 16 or more years. In contrast, many mallee 
environments are burnt regularly and mallee populations 
can regenerate freely from single fires every 5-10 years 
(Noble 1989). Therefore we suggest that the plants within 
the population are ageing, losing their vigour and are 
thus more prone to canker disease. In order to investigate 
whether E. phylacis will regenerate following fire or stem 
removal one of the 27 individual ramets was selected for 
mechanical coppice treatment. The results are reported 
here. 
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