Lignotuber in the context of "Mallee (habit)"

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⭐ Core Definition: Lignotuber

A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response to coppicing or other environmental stressors. However, lignotubers are specifically part of the normal course of development of the plants that possess them, and often develop early on in growth. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, as well as stores of starch that can support a period of growth in the absence of photosynthesis. The term "lignotuber" was coined in 1924 by Australian botanist Leslie R. Kerr.

Plants possessing lignotubers include many species in Australia; Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah), Eucalyptus brevifolia (snappy gum) and Eucalyptus ficifolia (scarlet gum) all of which can have lignotubers 3 m (10 ft) wide and 1 m (3 ft) deep, as well as most mallees (where it is also known as a mallee root) and many Banksia species.

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👉 Lignotuber in the context of Mallee (habit)

Mallee are trees or shrubs, mainly certain species of eucalypts, which grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber or xylopodium, usually to a height of no more than 10 m (33 ft). The term is widely used for trees with this growth habit across southern Australia, in the states of Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, and has given rise to other uses of the term, including the ecosystems where such trees predominate, specific geographic areas within some of the states and as part of various species' names.

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Lignotuber in the context of Eucalyptus regnans

Eucalyptus regnans, known variously as mountain ash (in Victoria), giant ash or swamp gum (in Tasmania), or stringy gum, is a species of very tall forest tree that is native to the Australian states of Tasmania and Victoria. It is a straight-trunked tree with smooth grey bark, but with a stocking of rough brown bark at the base, glossy green, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between nine and fifteen, white flowers, and cup-shaped or conical fruit. It is the tallest of all flowering plants; the tallest measured living specimen, named Centurion, stands 100 metres (328 feet) tall in Tasmania.

It often grows in pure stands in tall wet forest, sometimes with rainforest understorey, and in temperate, high rainfall areas with deep loam soils. A large number of the trees have been logged, including some of the tallest known. This species of eucalypt does not possess a lignotuber and is often killed by bushfire, regenerating from seed. Mature forests dominated by E. regnans have been found to store more carbon than any other forest known. The species is grown in plantations in Australia and in other countries. Along with E. obliqua and E. delegatensis it is known in the timber industry as Tasmanian oak.

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