Eucalyptus gomphocephala DC.

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2024, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 17, Willdenowia 54 (1), pp. 5-45 : 25

Eucalyptus gomphocephala DC.

– Fig. 12F, G.

A Tn: Tunisia: Bizerta, road from Sidi Salem toward Nadhour, 37°17'13"N, 09°52'20"E, 7–10 m, escaped on roadsides, 1 Oct 2022, El Mokni (herb. Univ. Monastir); Jendouba, Ghar Dimaou, El Ghorra, Aïn gampho, 36°35'16"N, 08°23'30"E, 1000 m, 6 Jul 2022, El Mokni (herb. Univ. Monastir); Monastir (Monastir city), 35°45'50"N, 10°49'38"E, 12–15 m, roadsides and under walls of buildings, 29 Oct 2020, El Mokni (herb. Univ. Monastir).

– A casual alien species new for the adventitious flora of Tunisia and Africa. Eucalyptus gomphocephala is an evergreen tree up to 40 m tall native to W Australia. As many species of the genus, it has been widely introduced around the world and can be found in cultivation used for wood production, windbreakers, stabilization of sands near the sea shore and afforestation and also as an important tree for honey production. In the Mediterranean the taxon is reported as a casual alien in Sardinia and Sicily ( Galasso & al. 2018) and introduced in Spain, whereas only as cultivated for Morocco, Italy and Cyprus ( Raab-Straube 2022 +). For Africa, the taxon is cited with “unknown status” only from Morocco, Tunisia and Libya (see, e.g., Greuter & Domina 2015: 45; APD 2023). The actual status of E. gomphocephala in Tunisia and N Africa is defined here as casual alien. Three distant sporadic subpopulations of few juvenile individuals of different ages have been observed growing not far apart from successful introductions in the regions of Bizerta, Jendouba and Monastir.

R. El Mokni

Figures

Fig. 12.Alien Eucalyptus species in Tunisia – A, B: E. botryoides; A: flaky-fibrous grey bark; B: cylindric fruits. – C–E: E. cylindrocarpa; C: basal part of planted individual with flaky bark and two juvenile individuals of different age; D: cylindric buds with conic operculum; E: flowers and ovoid fruits. – F, G: E. gomphocephala; F: subfibrous fissured bark; G: cylindric to ovoid fruits. – A, B: Tunisia, Jendouba,Aïn Draham, Babouch to Tabarka, 15 Oct 2022; C–E: ibid., Monastir, Jemmal to Touza, 20 Sep 2022; F, G: ibid., Bizerta, Sidi Salem to Nadhour, 1 Oct 2022, photographs by R. El Mokni.