Plunkett mallee

How to identify a Plunkett mallee

Plunkett mallee usually grows as a clump of slender stems rising from a woody base, or as a small single-trunked tree. The smooth bark is silvery grey and peels away in small brown curls. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, 6 to 14 cm long, glossy and noticeably darker on top than underneath. Unlike other eucalypts in its range, it carries its flowers in clusters of seven at the tips of the branchlets rather than in the leaf angles, and its gumnuts open by losing a small cap instead of splitting into valves. Those end-of-branch clusters and the two-toned leaves are the features to check.

Growing a Plunkett mallee in Brisbane

Plunkett mallee is a local native. It occurs as scattered plants from Plunkett, south of Beenleigh, out to Inglewood, Dalby and the Barakula State Forest and north to the Glass House Mountains area, often on poorly drained soils in shrubland or open forest. At 7 metres or less it suits suburban gardens where a full-sized gum would be too big, and its silvery stems and white spring flowers give a bush look without the bulk of a forest tree.

What to watch out for

Plunkett mallee is not on Brisbane City Council's weed list, and at no more than about 7 metres tall it stays much smaller than the forest gums.

Pruning and care

Plunkett mallee needs little routine care. Prune only to remove dead, damaged or crossing stems, cutting at the base of the stem or just outside a branch collar, and thin crowded stems if you prefer a more open shape. Like other mallees it grows from a lignotuber, a woody swelling at ground level that carries dormant buds, so it can reshoot from the base after damage. Avoid heavy shaping, because its natural slender, multi-stemmed form is part of its appeal.

• Tree pruning
• Tree removal