Eucalyptus kitsoniana

Eucalyptus kitsoniana is a tree or mallee that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth white to grey bark, sometimes with accumulated slabs of rough bark near the base and ribbons of shed bark above. The crown contains a mixture of juvenile, intermediate and adult leaves. Juvenile leaves are sessile, arranged in opposite pairs, a lighter shade of green on the lower side, broadly lance-shaped to more or less round, up to long and wide. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same glossy green on both sides, long and wide on a flattened petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven on an unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds sessile and the groups surrounded by bracts when young. Mature buds are oval to oblong, long and wide with a conical to rounded operculum. Flowering occurs between August and March and the flowers are white. The fruit is a sessile, cup-shaped to hemispherical capsule, long and wide, the valves near rim level. ==Taxonomy and naming==

Eucalyptus kitsoniana was first formally described in 1916 by Joseph Maiden and the description was published in his book A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus. The specific epithet honours the geologist Albert Ernest Kitson who was a keen naturalist. ==Distribution and habitat==

The Gippsland mallee is endemic to Victoria and is found near watercourse inland and on coastal plains, often growing in small, pure stands. It mainly occurs between Yarram and Cape Otway, near Portland and on Wilsons Promontory. ==References==