The Beard’s Mallee is a critically endangered eucalyptus tree native to Western Australia, near Shark Bay, roughly 350 miles north of Perth.
Rough Transcript
Intro 00:05
Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.
On today’s show we consider the Beard’s Mallee.
Species Information 02:05
The Beard’s Mallee is a critically endangered eucalyptus tree native to Western Australia, near Shark Bay, roughly 350 miles north of Perth.
Beard’s Mallee is a small flowering evergreen eucalyptus tree that typically grows to heights of 10 to 16 feet. Its shape is directly influenced by a particular fire adaptation. The tree grows a lignotuber, which is a woody swelling at the root crown, at the top of the root system and at the base of the trunk, just below or at the soil surface.
Lignotubers are packed with dormant buds from which new stems may sprout, and starch reserves that can support a period of growth in the absence of photosynthesis.
When a plant with a lignotuber experiences damage to its above-ground parts, in the case of the Beard’s that is usual fire, then the lignotuber activates. The dormant buds within it are stimulated to sprout, producing new shoots and leaves, allowing the plant to quickly recover and resume growth and photosynthesis. The stored nutrient reserves support that initial growth until there is ample foliage for new food production.
The tree’s bark is smooth, colored pale gray, creamy-white, and sometimes presenting a soft pinkish hue.
The light green leaves of the Beard’s Mallee are narrow, curving and longer than they are wide, tapering to a point at the ends, generally measuring between 3 to 5 inches long and a quarter to a half-inch wide.
In late winter, early spring (August to October in the Southern Hemisphere), the Beard’s Mallee produces unusual capped buds, that look a little like a chess pawn that hang downward in an umbel inflorescence. Inflorescence just means a cluster of flowers, umbel describes how the stalks of that cluster grow from a single central point, resembling an umbrella.
The buds shed their cap revealing gorgeous creamy-white flowers that look a little like a fringed lampshade. The flowers are bisexual, meaning both female and male sex organs are present in a single flower, the fringe are stamen, the male pollen-producing organ. And at the center of the flower is the female organ, the pistil, and the nectaries, the nectar producing organs.
Honeyeaters, a diverse family of small bird found in Australia, drink this nectar using their long, thin bills and brush-tipped tongues. As they move from flower to flower in search of nectar, they inadvertently transfer pollen, facilitating the Beard’s reproduction.
Once fertilized, the tree develops small, brown, cup-shaped woody fruit. These mature over several months, reaching full ripeness by late summer or early autumn (February to April). They measure roughly a half inch in both length and width and once mature, these seed capsules remain on the tree. The capsules are serotinous, meaning they are fire-adapted to open in response to the presence of high heat. And so imagine, wildfire, the branches burn, the seed capsules fall, roll, are carried by fire and wind, and then open, releasing the protected seeds. This is advantageous as it ensures that seeds are released into spaces now cleared of competing vegetation, providing optimal conditions for possible germination and successful growth.
And of course after a fire, the parent plant is often able to regrow, relying on the dormant shoots and stored nutrients in its lignotuber.
I am forever-awed by the accidental iterations of evolution, like it is not surprising that a complexity of pressures over millions of years results in a being, like the Beard’s Mallee with such intriguing adaptations, but it is still totally amazing. And as I learn more and more doing this show I feel a deepening astonishment at the extraordinary confluence of factors and the tangled interdependencies that lead to life. What a gift, like even in this late moment, what a gift it is to live on our planet.
The Beard’s Mallee is native to a small region of Western Australia, specifically the sandplains between the Kalbarri National Park and north to Shark Bay. This area is considered part of the Southwest Australia Ecoregion, which is a recognized biodiversity hotspot.
This ecoregion is characterized by a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Summer temperatures can soar to 100+ °F highs, while winter lows dip into the 40s. The annual rainfall is low, averaging 14 inches, primarily concentrated in the winter months.
The Beard’s Mallee’s habitat is a vast expanse of sandy plains, dotted with low, rolling hills and occasional rocky outcrops. The soil is predominantly nutrient-poor sand, often with a reddish or yellowish hue. Vegetation is sparse, with scattered low growing shrubs, and small trees spotting the arid landscape.
It shares this home with Yuna Mallee, Sceptre Banksia, Emu, Acacia, Malleefowl, Northern Sandplain Mallee, Bearded Dragon, Broom Bush, Grevillea, Sand Goanna, Grey Kangaroo, Ashby’s Banksia, Brushtail Possum and many, many others.
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In the dream, an aftermath. In the dream, an ashen aftermath, a barren expanse of green burnt black, limbs and trunks, fire-licked, smoke-taste on my lips, and a sadness, an orange-lit sky.
There is a thing humans say, one door closes, another opens. That every ending is also a beginning. In my own life, I have found that hard to place faith in. But here, in this dream, I can smell the truth of it. Of flame aching seedpods releasing their gift. Of shoots sprouting up from the ash. Terrifying change is also a promising.
And so I speak a small prayer into the char, to remember this scent, this trust, when I wake. From the dream.
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Beard’s Mallee faces a range of anthropogenic threats. Historical transformation of land for agriculture and grazing reduced its habitat. And today, human-introduced, non-native domesticated goats that pasture in its range cause significant damage to the tree, especially young seedlings and mature individuals resprouting after fires.
Human development and encroachment continue to be an issue; one subpopulation of Beard’s Mallee was destroyed by road construction.
And human induced-climate change is an immediate threat. Global warming is increasing drought length in this already arid place, resulting in more severe and frequent wildfires.
Fire is a historic part of the Beard’s Mallee ecosystem and plays a critical role in its reproduction, but more frequent and more intense fires can destroy maturing plants before they have a chance to produce seeds, can stunt regrowth and regeneration by exhausting nutrient stores. And increased fire severity can cause the seed capsules to open too early, affecting the seeds viability.
The Beard’s Mallee is legally protected under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999. And several conservation efforts are underway to protect the species and its habitat. Including identifying and safeguarding its ecoregion and restoring its degraded habitats, controlling invasive weeds, managing grazing pressures, and implementing fire protocols to promote natural regeneration.
There are offsite conservation efforts in place which involve the collection and storage of seeds in seed banks. Research is also ongoing to better understand the species’ ecology, genetic diversity, and potential response to future climate change threats.
Nevertheless the Beard’s Mallee was added to the IUCN red list of critically endangered species in 2019, and their population is in decline.
Most recent counts estimate that less than 250 Beard’s Mallee remain in the wild.
Citations 17:54
Australian Biological Resources Study from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Eucalyptus%20beardiana
Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase – https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/
Nuytsia, volume 2, issue 4 – https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53140440#page/56/
The Australian Government’s “Approved Conservation Advice for Eucalyptus beardiana” report – https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/18933-conservation-advice.pdf
IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/133374847/133374849
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_beardiana
Music 19:31
Pledge 26:58
I honor the lifeforce of the Beard’s Mallee. I will keep its human name in my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.
And so, in the name of the Beard’s Mallee I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of any plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations and governments.
I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.
