154 MYRTACEAE 
Stamens 1-seriate, c. 20. Style c. 4 mm long. 
Flowering and fruiting: Apr - Oct. Fig. 47 
The Kimberley to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Qld. In 
the DR recorded only in the Finniss-Reynolds R. area. 
Usually associated with sandstone. 
C. exstipulata DC. 
C. microphylla A.Cunn. 
Erect shrub to 2 m, rarely taller, glabrous. 
Stipules caducous. Leaves sessile or nearly so; 
blades narrowly ovate to linear, mostly glabrous, 
sometimes ciliate, 1-3.5 mm long, 0.25-1 mm wide, 
longer in juvenile foliage, acute. Flowers terminally 
clustered on main and leafy axillary shoots. Bracteoles 
connate for 2/3 of their length, the tube tapering to 
the base, c. 7 mm long, lobes broadly ovate, long 
Calytrix 
acuminate. Hypanthium dark red, + cylindrical, 
mostly 10-ribbed, 8-13 mm long, glabrous. Sepals 
dark red, + orbicular, 10-12 mm long including the 
fine scabrid awn of c. 8 mm. Petals pink, whitish at 
the base, narrowly elliptic, c. 10 mm long, glabrous, 
narrowly acute. Stamens 2-seriate, c. 30, filaments 
pink, white in the lower half. Style to 25 mm long. 
. Flowering and fruiting: all months, mainly June - Aug. 
Fig. 47 Turkey Bush 
Common and widespread in the DR and across 
its range from the Kimberley to the Gulf of 
Carpentaria, Qld. Occurs on a variety of sites in 
open vegetation; also in groves on disturbed areas 
such as road verges and borrow pits. A population 
with pure white flowers is known from north eastern 
Armhem Land. Cultivated. 
EUCALYPTUS lL Her. 
Trees or mallees. Plants heterophyllous, the juvenile, intermediate and adult leaves usually differing within 
a species in insertion, size, shape and vestiture. Adult leaves usually alternate, petiolate. Inflorescence unit 
umbelliform, the units axillary or in terminal panicles or corymbs or in complex axillary clusters. Flowers 
bisexual, rarely functionally male. Calyx vestigial or forming an operculum with the corolla. Corolla operculate. 
Operculum coriaceous, circumscissile, 1- or 2-layered. Stamens numerous, free, usually in several series on 
the hypanthium rim, rarely in discontinuous bundles; staminodes sometimes present; anthers dehiscing by 
longitudinal slits or terminal pores; connective with a terminal or median gland. Nectary annular, between the 
staminal ring and valves. Ovary inferior or half inferior, 2-7-locular; ovules many. Fruit a woody or coriaceous 
capsule, usually loculicidally dehiscent; valves included to exsert. Seeds variously shaped, shed with a chaff 
of unfertilised ovules. - 
In excess of 600 species, most endemic to Australia. In the NT c. 70 species, 31 in the DR. 
Chippendale (1988) in the Flora of Australia provides a summary of literature and attributes along with 
descriptions, distribution maps and photographs of bark types. The most useful modern contribution to the 
classification of the genus is that of Pryor & Johnson (1971) with further refinements in Johnson & Briggs 
(1983, 1984). The eleven subgeneric categories proposed by these authors are generally well accepted as 
constituting natural and recognisable groups. A further, recent proposal will see the Bloodwoods and the 
Paper-fruited Bloodwoods (see below) separated from Eucalyptus and combined to form a single new genus. 
Features of the Red Gum type (E. camaldulensis) and Bloodwood type (E. ptychocarpa) flower are 
illustrated in Fig. 48. In the Bloodwood type the hypanthium extends well above the ovary and is lined by the 
nectary. The valves of the Bloodwood capsule are retracted at dehiscence and are referred to as included or 
sunken. In the Red Gum type, the top of the ovary extends above the hypanthium rim and in fruit the valves 
retain their position (exserted) with the nectary forming a broad disc around them. The inflorescence unit 
typical of the Red Gums and of many other species is classed in this Flora as an umbel (Fig. 48). Pryor & 
Johnson (1971) trace the possible derivation of this basic unit from the complex dichasium and suggest an 
alternative name (umbellaster) to distinguish it from the indeterminant umbel of other plant groups. 
Of the 11 subgeneric assemblages, 4 occur in the DR. The Bloodwoods, the Eudesmids and the 
Paper-fruited Bloodwoods contain the majority of species (63%) and dominate the savannas. 
Eudesmids 
E. miniata, E. phoenicea, E. tetrodonta. A small group within the genus and considered to be one of the 
most primitive. Unusual features worth noting in the local species are the four calyx teeth in E. tetrodonta and 
the presence of two valves only in E. phoenicea. Species of the group generally have large, often coloured 
‘flowers in axillary inflorescences. 
