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Eucalyptus rhodantha
Also called Scott's Mallee
Rose mallee is a straggly shrub or mallee from the wheatbelt of Western Australia, grown for its red flower buds and drought tolerance. Give it full sun and well-drained sandy soil, and protect young plants from frost.
Eucalyptus rhodantha, commonly known as rose mallee or rose gum, is a species of straggly mallee or shrub native to parts of Western Australia. It has smooth bark and a crown composed entirely of circular to heart-shaped juvenile leaves arranged in opposite pairs and attached directly to the stems with no stalks. The flower buds appear singly in the leaf axils and are red, the fruits hemispherical to conical and pendent. The rose mallee is grown as an ornamental shrub suitable for gardens in hot and dry climates. It is found more often in urban gardens and cultivation than in the wild and is readily available in seed form.
E. rhodantha was first formally described in 1938 by the Australian botanists and collectors William Blakely and Henry Steedman from material collected by Steedman near Gunyidi, Western Australia in 1934.
Eucalyptus rhodantha is native to Western Australia and is found in the Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains bioregions. The plant is only known from the northern wheatbelt where a few remnant stands remain near Three Springs and Watheroo. Several reports have identified the range extending south to Bolgart and New Norcia; these appear to be hybrid progeny of E. macrocarpa and E. pyriformis. All the specimens of E. rhodantha collected are from the Watheroo and Three Springs locations with the exception of one plant recorded from Eneabba Creek in 1953. Eneabba Creek and nearby areas were observed in August 1991 but no further populations were found. Since that time, the bulk of the native flora has been cleared for agricultural purposes.
Rose mallee is grown as an ornamental shrub. It is found more often in urban gardens and cultivation than in the wild. It will grow well in full sun and well-drained sandy soils and juvenile plants need protection from frost. The spreading evergreen is suitable for drought-resistant, low-maintenance gardens as a feature plant, windbreak or screening plant. It is used for erosion control and attracts nectar-eating birds, bees, butterflies and other insects.
White eucalyptus · New England Stringybark · River redgum · Coowarra Box · Coolabah · Narrowleaf red ironbark · White gum · Indonesian gum · River peppermint gum · Tasmanian bluegum · Cider gum · Araluen Gum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eucalyptus rhodantha by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
