Eucalyptus approximans

Eucalyptus approximans is a slender mallee that sometimes grows to a height of 6 m (20 ft) and has smooth white or grey bark. Young plants and coppice regrowth have shiny green, linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves 65–140 mm (3–6 in) long and 10–20 mm (0.4–0.8 in) wide. They are a different shade of green on either side. Adult leaves are linear to lance-shaped or curved, 55–120 mm (2–5 in) long and 5–16 mm (0.2–0.6 in) wide on a petiole 4–12 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long. They are the same glossy green on both sides. The flower buds are usually arranged in groups of seven, the groups on a peduncle 4–12 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long and the individual flowers a pedicel 1–3 mm (0.04–0.1 in) long. The mature buds are club-shaped, 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide with a rounded to flattened operculum. Flowering occurs between March and June and the flowers are white. The fruit is a cylindrical to cup-shaped capsule 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and 6–9 mm (0.2–0.4 in) wide on a pedicel up to 4 mm (0.2 in) long.[3][4][5][6]

Eucalyptus approximans was first formally described in 1919 by Joseph Maiden from a specimen collected on Barren Mountain by Henry Deane. The description was published in Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales.[2][7] Maiden did not give a reason for using the specific epithet (approximans) but noted that the species is "close" to Eucalyptus stricta.[5][7]

In 1973, Lawrie Johnson and Donald Blaxell reduced E. codonocarpa, which occurs in Queensland and New South Wales, to a subspecies as Eucalyptus approximans subsp. codonocarpa but the change has not been accepted by the Australian Plant Census.[8]

Barren Mountain mallee is only known from Barren Mountain near Ebor where it grows in mallee shrubland in thin, nutrient-poor soils.[3][4]

This eucalypt is listed as "vulnerable" under the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. The main threats to the species are inappropriate fire regimes and clearing for agriculture.[4]