Black Peppermint
Eucalyptus amygdalina
Small tree with a mallee habit to 20 m tall, rough-barked for most of the tree but smooth-barked in upper branches. Green adult leaves are alternate and are lance-shaped or narrow and thin. Juvenile leaves similar but smaller. Flowers and gum-nuts in clusters of 5-12.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Flora Type | Trees |
| Distinctive Features | Club-shaped buds. Seed capsule almost hemispherical with disk slightly sunken or flat with the valves level or slightly raised. |
| Biology | Perennial. Endemic to Tas. This is one of the most widespread eucalypts in eastern Tas on shallow poor soils. Occurs in a range of environments including grassy woodlands and forests. Replaced by E. nitida in western Tas. |
| Native Status | Native |
| Taxonomy | |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants) |
| Class | Magnoliopsida (Flowering Plants) |
| Order | Myrtales |
| Family | Myrtaceae |
| Genus | Eucalyptus |
| Species | amygdalina |
The seed and inner bark of some Eucalyptus species were used as a food source by Aboriginal people, as well as the gum and leaves for medicial purposes and wood and bark for fibre. Timber durable and used for fenceposts, and also firewood.
| Interesting Facts | |
|---|---|
| Similar Species | Some fine-leafed forms on the east coast are indistuinguishable for White Peppermint E. pulchella. Hybridises with at least six other eucalypt species. |
| Native Status | Native |