Eucalyptus curtisii

 Eucalyptus curtisii, commonly known as Plunkett mallee, is a species of mallee or small tree that is endemic to south-east Queensland in Australia. It has smooth grey to silvery bark, lance-shaped, narrow elliptic or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and wrinkled, cup-shaped fruit.

Description
Eucalyptus curtisii is a slender mallee or small tree that typically grows to a height of 7-12 m and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth grey to silvery bark that is shed in short curly flakes. Young plants and coppice regrowth have linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves that are 30-62 mm long and 3-6 mm wide and a slightly darker shade of green on the upper surface. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, elliptic or curved, glossy green but much paler on the lower surface. They are 60-140 mm long and 10-30 mm wide on a petiole 7-18 mm long. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven on a branching inflorescence near the ends of the stems, each branch with groups of seven buds. The groups are on a peduncle 7-17 mm long, the individual buds on a pedicel 2-5 mm long. Mature buds are oval to pear-shaped, 5-8 mm long and 4-7 mm wide with a rounded operculum. Flowering occurs from September to December and the flowers are white to creamy white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, wrinkled capsule 5-11 mm long and 6-11 mm wide.

Taxonomy and naming
Eucalyptus curtisii was first formally described in 1931 by William Blakely and Cyril White from a specimen collected on sandstone hills "near Plunkett, [now Plunkett Conservation Park], about 33 mi south-west of Brisbane". The description was publish in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. The specific epithet (curtisii) honours Densil Curtis, a farmer and naturalist, who collected the type specimens in 1923 and 1929.

Distribution and habitat
Plunkett mallee grows in shrubland and open forest in poorly drained sites between Beenleigh, Inglewood, Dalby, and Theodore in south-east Queensland.

Cultural references
Eucalyptus curtisii was adopted by Ipswich City Council as its floral emblem in 1996.