Eucalyptus × stoataptera

Eucalyptus × stoataptera is a small tree that is endemic to a small area on the south coast of Western Australia. It has a dense crown, smooth bark on the trunk and branches, glossy, oblong leaves, single flower buds in leaf axils, lemon-orange flowers, and fruit that are square in cross-section. It is a natural hybrid between Eucalyptus stoatei and E. tetraptera.

Description
Eucalyptus × stoataptera is a tree that typically grows to a height 4 m. It has smooth dark grey and light grey bark on the trunk and branches. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of glossy green on both sides, oblong with a long-pointed tip, 90-110 mm long and 30-35 mm wide and petiolate. The flower buds are arranged singly in leaf axils on a downturned peduncle 30-35 mm long becoming flattened near the floral cup, the individual buds pendent on a very short pedicel. Mature buds are red, square in cross-section with a wing on each corner, 42-48 mm long and 24-28 mm wide with a conical operculum. The fruit is a pendulous, woody, red capsule 36-58 mm long and 25-32 mm wide with a wing on each corner and up to five small ribs between each pair of wings.

Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus × stoataptera was first formally described in 1995 by Eleanor Marion Bennett in the journal Nuytsia from specimens she collected between Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun in 1991. The specific epithet is a combination of the names of its parents, E. stoatei and E. tetraptera.

Distribution and habitat
This eucalypt grows in low to medium mallee shrubland with the parent species and E. kessellii in the Esperance Plains biogeographic region.