Mallee to 5 m tall. Forming a lignotuber.Bark smooth throughout, grey to white to pink. Branchlets glaucous; lacking oil glands in the pith. Juvenile growth (coppice or field seedlings to 50 cm): stems square in cross-section, appearing winged due to decurrent leaf bases, becoming round further up the stem, slightly glaucous to non-glaucous; juvenile leaves opposite, sessile with decurrent bases on lower stem then alternate, sessile to shortly petiolate with leaf bases tapering to the petiole, broadly lanceolate, 6–15 cm long, 2.5–4.5 cm wide, dull, grey-green to green.Adult leaves alternate, petiole 1.4–4 cm long; blade lanceolate to broadly lanceolate to ovate, 6–16 cm long, 1.5–3.5(4.5) cm wide, base tapering to petiole, rarely rounded, concolorous, dull, grey-green to green, side-veins at an acute or wider angle to midrib, moderately to densely reticulate, intramarginal vein parallel to and 1–3 mm within margin, oil glands numerous and mostly intersectional.Inflorescence axillary unbranched, peduncles 0.7–1.4 cm long, erect to pendulous; buds 7, pedicellate, pedicels 0.4–1 cm long. Mature buds ± ovoid to oblong to pyriform (1.4–1.9 cm long, 0.6–0.9 cm wide), usually glaucous (rarely non-glaucous), scar present, operculum finely beaked (0.9–1.4 cm long), wider than the hypanthium at the join, stamens mostly inflexed or irregularly flexed, anthers versatile, basifixed, globoid, dehiscing by slits, style long, stigma tapered, locules 3 or 4, the placentae each with 4 vertical ovule rows. Flowers pale yellow to white.Fruit pedicellate (pedicels 0.3–0.8 cm long), cup-shaped to cylindrical to barrel-shaped, rarely slightly urn-shaped, sometimes glaucous, 0.7–1 cm long, (0.6)0.7–0.8(0.9) cm wide, rim thick, disc descending to level, valves 3 or 4, valve tips strongly exserted due to fragile style remnants.Seeds brown to grey, 1–2 mm long, ovoid or flattened-ovoid, rarely pointed at one end, occasionally with shallow longitudinal furrows on otherwise smooth dorsal surface, hilum ventral.Cultivated seedlings (measured at node 10): cotyledons Y-shaped (bisected); stems square in cross-section and prominently winged due to decurrent leaf bases, non-glaucous to slightly glaucous; leaves opposite, sessile, linear to oblong for the first 4–5 nodes then ovate, dull, glaucous, 2–2.5 cm long, 1.2–1.5 cm wide, leaf base decurrent on stem.
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