Seed production in white box (Eucalyptus albens) in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales

Capsules were collected from 32 white box (Eucalyptus albens) trees growing in the vicinity of Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. and aspects of seed production were assessed on an individual tree basis. On average there were 2.0 seeds per capsule, which is low for eucalypts, and there were 1012 seeds per 10 g of capsule contents, which is only ca. 40% of the previously published figures for white box. There was a large tree to tree variation in both these measurements. The average number of seeds per capsule and the number of seeds per 10 g of capsule contents were significantly lower in isolated trees (1.1 and 422, respectively) than in trees in woodland environments (2.1 and 1122, respectively). Larger capsules were not correlated with greater numbers of seeds per capsule but were correlated with larger seeds.