Eucalyptus Tereticornis - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Specimens of E. tereticornis were first collected in 1793 by First Fleet surgeon and naturalist John White from Port Jackson. White's findings were published later that year by James Edward Smith in Zoology and Botany of New Holland. It was later republished by Smith in his 1795 edition of A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland. Smith gave it the specific epithet tereticornis from the Latin teretus ("terete", meaning circular in transverse cross-section) and cornu ("horn"), in reference to the horn-shaped bud cap.

Eucalyptus tereticornis has had a fairly complex taxonomic history. Synonyms include:

• Eucalyptus tereticornis var. pruiniflora (Blakely) Cameron
• Eucalyptus insignis Naudin
• Eucalyptus populifolia Desf.
• Eucalyptus subulata Schauer
• Eucalyptus umbellata (Gaertn.) Domin nom. illeg.
• Eucalyptus umbellata var. pruiniflora Blakely
• Leptospermum umbellatum Gaertn.

There have also been evidence of numerous subspecies and varieties published, but the only ones remaining current are E. tereticornis subsp. mediana and the autonym E. tereticornis subsp. tereticornis. Some hybrids have been reported.