Variation in Eucalyptus barberi L. Johnson & Blaxell

Abstract

Phenetic variation within Eucalyptus barberi L. Johnson & Blaxell was examined and compared to related Tasmanian species. "Typical" northern populations were morphologically distinct from the more diverse group of populations to the south. This phenetic disjunction did not correspond to the major geographic disjunction in the range of E. barberi. Detailed study of two morphologically aberrant population indicated that they probably arose from in situ hybridisation: however, the exact identities of the progenitor species remains unclear. The type locality and several of the "southern" populations, as well as aberrant populations at Meredith Tier and Ponybottom Creek, deserve formal conservation.