Eucalyptus cerasiformis

Eucalyptus cerasiformis, commonly known as the cherry-fruited mallee, is a mallee that is endemic to a small area of Western Australia. It has smooth, pale grey, sometimes powdery bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, pale yellow or whitish flowers and cylindrical or bell-shaped fruit.

Description
Eucalyptus cerasiformis is a mallee that typically grows to a height of 2 to 3.5 m and has smooth, pale grey and white, sometimes powdery bark. The adult leaves are thin and the same glossy, grey-green on both sides. The leaf blade is narrow lance-shaped, 50-112 mm long and 5-14 mm wide on a petiole 8-20 mm long. The flower buds are borne in groups of seven in leaf axils on a thin peduncle 18-50 mm long, the individual buds on a pedicel 7-16 mm long. Mature buds are more or less cylindrical, 9-11 mm long and 5-6 mm wide with a conical to rounded operculum with a point on the tip. Flowering occurs between December and March and the flowers are pale yellow or whitish. The fruit is a woody cylindrical, bell-shaped, urn-shaped or hemispherical capsule.

Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus cerasiformis was first formally described in 1978 by Ian Brooker and Donald Blaxell from a specimen collected by Blaxell near the Hyden - Norseman Road, 164 km east of Hyden. The description was published in the journal Nuytsia. The specific epithet (cerasiformis) is derived from the Latin cerasus meaning "cherry-tree" and -formis meaning "shape",  referring to the hanging flower buds resembling a bunch of cherries.

Distribution and habitat
Cherry-fruited mallee is only known from the type location, just north of Lake Johnston where it grows in low, open forest in red-loamy soils.

Conservation status
This eucalypt is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife, meaning that is rare or near threatened.