Eucalyptus apiculata

Eucalyptus apiculata, commonly known as the narrow-leaved mallee ash and is a mallee that is endemic to New South Wales. It has smooth white or greyish bark, narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three to seven, white flowers and urn-shaped or barrel-shaped fruit.

Description
Eucalyptus apiculata is a mallee with smooth white or greyish bark. Young plants and coppice regrowth have leaves arranged in opposite pairs, linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves up to 160 mm long and 8-20 mm wide. They are the same glossy green colour on both sides. Adult leaves are narrow lance-shaped, 35-110 mm long and 3-7 mm wide, the same glossy green on both sides. There is a small point or hook on the end of the leaves. The flower buds are arranged in groups of three to seven, the groups on a peduncle 5-10 mm long and the individual flowers a pedicel 2-5 mm long. The mature buds are oval to club-shaped, 5-8 mm long and 3-4 mm wide with a conical operculum that has a small point on its top. Flowering occurs between October and March and the flowers are white. The fruit is an urn-shaped or barrel-shaped capsule 6-9 mm long and 6-8 mm wide on a pedicel 2-6 mm long.

Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus apiculata was first formally described in 1902 by Richard Thomas Baker and Henry George Smith who published the description in a paper entitled A research on the eucalypts : especially in regard to their essential oils. The specific epithet (apiculata) is a Latin word meaning "apiculate", referring to the leaves.

Distribution and habitat
The narrow-leaved mallee ash is a rare species with a restricted distribution between Linden and Berrima where it grows in mallee shrubland.